Of Camping, Birthdays, and War movies

We're going camping!!!!! Yippeeee!!!!

Our church is having a big campout at Howard Prairie Lake this weekend. There's going to be boating, paint balling, and (best of all) Eating! And you're invited!

It's free and we have the big group campsite reserved for any friends who want to come. You can come and set up camp, or just come for a day trip. There is going to be a BBQ/shared meal Saturday night and dad is going to do some silly camp songs. Then there's going to be a worship service Sunday mornin' at 10am followed by baptisms.

If you would like to come, click here for info and stuff.

The dates are August 3-5.

Speaking of which, my birthday is on the 5th. I'm going to be a big ol' whoppin' sixteen year old! Can you believe it?!? .......of course you can...........what a dumb question.
Interesting fact: This'll be the 3rd (4th?) year in a row where we have been camping during my birthday. I kinda like it. Camping is really fun.

I will soon have my own driver's license and I'll probly move out.....right? Heh heh, No.
I might get a job at the local hardware store or Grange Co-op. Or I might just keep on doing yard work for neighbors; I get paid more than minimum wage doing yard work and I don't have to pay for car insurance, gas, or taxes. Pretty sweet deal, eh? I can pretty much make my own working schedule, too.


My friend, Zane, and I are filming a World War II movie. We shot our first film day yesterday (Monday) and it went alright. We were a little disorganized and didn't get as much done as we could have, but we still got some good action footage. We also learned some important lessons about lighting and audio.

The tentative Title of the movie is "No Greater Love", taken from John 15. I know you're dieing to know the plot but it is to be kept as a secret. At least for those who aren't in it.

If you're interested in being in it, let me know. Maybe we can fit you in.


In conclusion, go camping and/or enjoy the outdoors, get lots of presents for boys named Aaron who are turning 16 (.....BWAHAHAHAHA!.....NOT!...), and finally, study up on your WWII history. It's really fascinating stuff.

Well, until next time, God bless!
~Aaron Sleaddvinsky


P.S. If you're wondering, the picture of the soldier is just a random WWII photo. Not out of our movie.

Homeschooling Speech- Part 5 of 5

In conclusion, I remember dad asking me in 2002, 5 years ago, if I would home school my children. I answered I would probably just home school them until middle school or High school. Now I wonder, “Why would you put them into the public schools at all?” I will most definitely home school my children for these reasons. Home schooling includes faith, family, and fun.

We are still busy, we will always be busy, but there is less stress and life is just better all around.

Here are some questions that are worth considering. Will you home school your children? How does your faith tie-in with home education? Why is home schooling important? I challenge all of you to give God your best through home schooling.

Homeschooling Speech- Part 4 of 5

Not only does home schooling allow room for faith and family, but for fun also!

This brings me to my last point.

I would have to say I have never had so much fun as I have being in speech club. With, the exception of course, of camping. I love being with you guys and learning to improve my speech and above all learning to glorify God.

Philippians 4:4-
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

There is so much joy in home schooling.

For some reason, while I was in public school, I thought that home schoolers didn’t have a life. That they didn’t have any friends and they were nerdy geeks who wore clothes from the 70s and 80s. Well, I was right and wrong. I was wrong about them having no friends and wearing old clothes but I was right that they were geeks. Take for example that one kid Aaron. He’s a pretty nerdy geek.

I think one of the largest differences between home schooling and public schooling is the amount of freedom each allows. Public schools try to standardize and regulate everything. I wonder who thought of the idea that all kids, including both boys and girls, of a certain age, have the same learning level. It’s absurd to expect that. But that’s what the schools do. Ralph Swanson, a home schooling speaker and writer, at a conference, gave this example.

This is how the schools expect you to learn. But people don’t learn at that rate.

They learn like this.

Or like this. With home schooling you have the freedom to learn “like this”. And it makes learning a lot more fun. Or is it funner? Never mind.

There is also the freedom from bullying and teasing. Let me tell you, there is so much teasing and mocking at school, it gets old day after day. It’s like a barnyard of chickens all pecking at the smaller chickens and trying to puff themselves up for their own glory. It’s really pathetic. I am so glad I am home schooled now. God has certainly blessed me.

Homeschooling Speech- Part 3 of 5

With home schooling, not only is there room for faith, but family is included also. This brings me to my second point, Family. Through out the bible parents are told to teach their own children.

Proverbs 22:6-
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."

Ephesians 6:4-
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Did you know that, from a study by Josh McDowell he found out that 94% of Home schooled children will keep their parents faith after graduation whereas only 15-20% of public schooled children will keep their family’s faith. Imagine for a moment that you had ten children. If you sent them all to public school until graduation, according these statistics, only 2 of them will keep their faith. Whereas if you home schooled them, all but one would continue the faith. Of course it differs between families, but according to these statistics, that is what the outcome would look like. Also, these statistics are not new. This is old news and yet sadly there are hundreds and thousands of Christian parents who are still allowing the world, the State, to indoctrinate their children.

(slow)While we were in public school it seemed like there was a lot more stress and we didn’t get along very well, but now that we’re home schooled there’s absolutely no stress and we get along perfectly. Right? Ok maybe not but there has been a change. As I had illustrated at the beginning of my speech, we were busy all the time with school and homework, not to mention sports and music lessons. But it was more than that. It was the stress of constantly having to fit in. The feeling is hard to explain unless you’ve been there. It’s a relentless pressure to be cool like everyone else. And it is so devastating that 80% of Christian kids will leave the faith after high school.

Homeschooling Speech- Part 2 of 5

So first, Faith. Currently, a teacher at the public schools could lose his or her job for teaching on the bible or even praying publicly in the classroom.

Whereas in home schooling, faith is one of the key aspects that is included. At least for us. With home schooling you don’t have worry about your children learning things that aren’t true. You can teach your kids about the truth of life. We were created in God’s image, in his likeness to bring glory to Him. We did not evolve from various blobs and animals as the schools continue to teach. God created the heavens and the earth and saw that it was good. It did not suddenly appear after a Big bang. Homosexuality is an abomination to the Lord as seen in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah. It should not to be accepted, as the schools in California have recently taught.

In II Corinthians 6:14 it says-"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?"

I believe, as a Christian parent, sending your children to public school is a very dangerous thing to do because it risks breaking this commandment. Allowing the State (which rejects God, rejects his Word and his commandments and says there is no good and evil or absolute truths) Allowing the secular and unbelieving State to educate, to train and indoctrinate your children is (from my perspective) being unequally yoked with unbelievers.

Some parents have said that their children are lights in the schools and that’s why they send them there. I have a question. When training a young child how to swim do you just throw them into the deep end? No. They need to build up strength and be trained before they can swim in deep water. Can you expect a young child to be a salt and a light in a system that tells them there is no God? It’s possible but improbable. They need to be trained first.

In the three years I was public schooled I sadly did not share or even try to share the gospel with my peers. Why? I was too scared. I didn’t know what to say. I was more concerned about being accepted by my peers then I was concerned about their salvation. There was so much pressure to fit in and be cool that it was depressing my faith and making me discontent. You were cool if you had bad language and if you thought it was wrong, you were weird. You were cool if you dated a new girl every week and if you didn’t date at all, you were weird. You were cool if you let your pants sag down to show your boxers or to be disrespectful to the teachers. You were cool if you got bad grades and mocked those who took homework seriously. It was funny and popular for guys to lust after girls. And the girls encouraged it with their immodest clothing. And this was just among us 6^th graders. As shocking as it sounds, I had no idea how much it was effecting me until dad pulled us out and I was able to look back on it. I am so thankful to be home schooled now.

Martin Luther said many years ago- “I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place their child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the word of God must become corrupt.”

Noah Webster once said- “An education without the Bible is useless."

I could get an education at the highest ranking school in the world but that knowledge would profit me nothing, in eternity, if I still rejected God and His word-the bible.

Homeschooling Speech Part 1 of 5

This is a speech I wrote last year on homeschooling-

We got up at 6 o’clock in the morning, had some quick devotions, gathered up our school books, grabbed something to eat, and jumped in the van for Dad to drop us off in time to catch the school bus. Between the family, we went to 3 schools, Alexa attended Redwood Elementary, Nathan and I attended South Middle School, and Naomi (the oldest) was at Grants Pass High School. After catching the bus we would be at school until late in the afternoon and come home just in time to get dinner on the table and have a sit down meal. After that we would do loads of homework and try to be in bed in time to have a good nights sleep. Then the cycle would repeat itself the next day.....and the next......and the next.

“We didn’t get along very well I guess because we would rather be with our cool friends from school than be with our family. It was sort of stressful all the time even when I was with my friends, but, dude, at least I wasn’t home schooled. I mean, who’d want to be a brainy geek with huge glasses and a stuck-up nose and a pimply face who didn’t have any social life? Home schoolers were just so weird. They didn’t know how to fit in and be cool.” That was how I felt in the school year of 2002. And would you believe it, during Christmas break dad called a family counsel. He told us God had been pushing on his heart. He had been noticing a lot of discontentment and bad fruit in our attitudes and character. Dad told us we were going to be home schooled.

Today I would like to tell you the benefits of home schooling and why I believe it is far superior to public schooling. I would like to first, show how home schooling allows time for Faith, secondly, How it allows time for Family, and last of all, how home schooling allows time for Fun. Faith, Family, and Fun.

Of Churchill, Yard work, and Dinner'n'Dance

Winston Churchill

Lately I've been reading a book about Winston Churchill. It's called "Never Give Up" because of the way Churchill followed that motto. It's really fascinating to read about how greatmen of the past weren't simply born great. In fact, many of them were born as ordinary people who struggled with the same things we all do. What made them different was their will to press through the difficulties and be bold.

Winston Churchill was actually born to a Duke and had dreams of following his father into that position. Yet, his parents neglected him and pursued their social ambitions. In fact, his father thought his son was retarded and regularly vented his anger out on him. So while his parents were off on their social events, Churchill was cared for by his nanny, Mrs. Everest. Mrs Everest was a bible-believing christian who didn't follow the relativistic movements of the era. She helped Churchill to memorize scripture and taught him to pray. She was one of the biggest influences in Churchill's life.

He was a courageous man who later became the Prime Minister of Great Britain and basically pulled the Allies through World War 2. Winston Churchill was a man of action and character and still stands as one of the greatest leaders in history.

At the rebelution conference, Alex encouraged us to study history and great men of the past; to learn from their mistakes and their strengths. I've chosen Churchill as the man I'm going to research and learn from. Who are you going to research?

I will probably be posting more about Churchill later.

Yard Work

So, about yard work. Hmm...Where do I begin? Well, first of all I've been doing lots, lots of it. About a month ago I thought about making some money, so I went around the neighborhood putting yard work flyers into peoples newspaper boxes. I passed out about 50. And we live in a elderly community where people are older and can't do yard maintenance or just don't have the time. So, I got a lot of calls from anxious customers and yard work has almost become a part-time job for me. It is very fun, and everyone thinks I'm a very good worker. Of course, they're all wrong. Heehee.
It's not only fun, and outdoors, but I get paid for it. $8.50 an hour. God is VERY good. His blessings are innumerable.
How are you makin' money?

Dinner'n'Dance

As you may already know, there is a Coram Deo Church- Dinner'n'dance tomorrow night at 6pm. (Friday, July 13th) There is going to be background music featuring-

Tait Deems,

Dylan Deems,

with "Homemade Jam".

We'll be playing some smooth jazz, some swing, funk and some rock. Sorry, no punk rock. heehee. Then, of course there'll be dancing with just CD music. No live music because the Deems don't want to miss out on the dancing.....right? haha! ;)

Please come and invite your friends. This event is sort of like a reach out to the community to let everyone know about Coram Deo Church. If you have questions or anything, about the dance, email me at Aaronsleadd@gmail.com.

I WANT YOU TO COME TO THE DINNER 'N' DANCE!

In conclusion, (1)study history and learn from people of the past. (2)Go enjoy the outdoors and perhaps find ways in which you can make money. (3)And lastly, but certainly not least, Come enjoy some christain fellowship and food at the Dinner 'n' Dance.
God Bless!

Coming up next will be a speech I wrote on homeschooling. Stay tuned!

The Rebelution Conference 4

The Rebelution Sessions.
Session 2
Do Hard Things

-Brett Harris

Brett began his session with this story. It's definitely worth reading.

"I still remember my first shower. It was a horrible experience. I was eight years old and all I had ever known was baths. Baths were neat and tidy ordeals where the water flowed in from below my head and – provided I didn’t splash too much – stayed below my head.

I found showers to be an entirely different beast. The water, rather than flowing as a solid stream that was easily visible and avoidable, sprayed out as nearly invisible and unavoidable droplets that seemed to have a magnetic attraction to my eyes."

click here to read the rest

Here are just some notes that took at the conference of this session. The subject was Do Hard Things (duh) and one of the things that really stuck with me was an example Brett used. He asked why is that when you are a growing child you are expected to learn to talk, to tie your shoes, to learn to read, and how to use the potty. Basically, you're expected to grow when you're young. But, for some reason, when we become teenagers, we're expected to stop growing and are allowed to use lame excuses for our laziness.

For example, it's excepted for a teenager to say something like- "I'm just not a math person" or "Grammar just isn't my thing" or "I'm just not a music person"; whereas if a toddler told us- "I'm just not a toilet person" or "Shoe laces just don't go well with me", we would laugh and say give me a break. It's absurd. But what seems absurd for toddlers is now excepted for teenagers. The cultures expectations of us teens has slowly gone down over the last century.

So how does that apply to "Do Hard Things"?

As teenagers, we should not let the culture set our standards for us. We should continually be pressing onward to greater and harder works. And all these hard things should be done for the glory of God.
I can't really go in depth right now about all the things behind "Do Hards Things" but if you go to the Rebelution and read a lot of their articles, you'll get a better understanding what Alex and Brett are all about. They have an awesome vision to reform todays youth to be about greater things than the next X-box or Game cube. I pray that God would bless their work and make it fruitful.

Here are some wonderful pictures of our trip to Sacramento and the conference. Enjoy!

The Rebelution Conference 3

The 3 Rebelution Sessions

The Myth of Adolescence
Alex began his speech with an old dream he had when he was boy. He had always wanted an elephant for his pet. An elephant could do all his chores, give him free rides, and furnish him with super-status among his friends. He even did some research and learned that an elephant playing tug-a-war with twice as much weight in men, as the elephant, would still win. Amazing.
They could/can uproot trees and carry long logs; single-handedly! (more like single-trunkedly)
These were enormous animals with the power to tear down buildings. So how would you keep them from running away? Tie them to a tree and they'd pull it down. So he looked to see how real owners did it.

Simple.

Put a wooden stake in the ground and, with a string, tie the elephant's right-hind foot to it. The elephant won't budge. Why? It could easily pull the stake out of the ground. Why doesn't the elephant escape?
Answer: When the elephant is young, the owners take it from its mother and chain it's hind leg to a large tree. The elephant will struggle, sometimes for weeks, to free itself from the chain. The owners wait patiently until the elephant loses hope and gives up. The owners then are able to retain these powerful, 2 ton animals with a piece of string and a stake. The elephants believe that whenever there is something around their right hind foot, they cannot move.
Though there are no shackles on the elephant's leg, there are still shackles around the elephant's mind.

This is what the culture has done to its youth. They have created this idea that while you are a teen-ager, you don't need to prepare for your future, you are free from responsibilities, and it's your vacation time to do whatever you want, without consequences. Today's youth are made to believe that they can't take on the full responsibilities that an adult can. This is a lie! History tells us that "teen-agers" are capable of great things! George Washington was making the equivalent of todays 100,000 dollars a year back then; at the age of 14, working as a land surveyor. Alex gave some other examples of young men who were acting like adults at very young ages. But the most astounding thing was, back then, it wasn't unusual for 12, 13, 14-year-olds to be acting like adults; it was the norm. In fact, the whole idea of adolescence is only about a century old. The idea that there is an age gap between childhood and adulthood never existed until the 20th century. Before the adolescent years were invented, you were either an adult, or you were a child; none of this in between stuff. Actually, one of the first times the word "teen-ager" appeared in print was in a news print from 1947.

Alex Harris challenged the idea that the teen years are a vacation from responsibility. Instead, he said, they are the launching pad for the rest of your life; and you're going to be launched whether you like it or not. Are you ready?
I was challenged personally to spend my time more wisely and to start really thinking about how I'm going to provide for my 12 member family. :-)
Here some quotes of Alex that I wrote down at the conference.
"How am I spending my time, right now, to prepare me for the future."
Am I spending it on video games and pure entertainment?
"We become the person we strive to be."
What kind of person are you striving to be?
Alex also recommended researching someone from the past from whom you can learn alot from.



Well, I see that I'm going to have to split this series even further for readability. So, until next time, tata!