Share Now

The children in our Wednesday night class enjoy dividing into groups to sing, “Whose Side Are You Fighting On?” The children on one side of the room sing, “Whose side are you fightin’ on?” Those on the other side answer, “I’m fightin’ on the Lord’s side!”

After both sides repeat those lines, they all join together for the chorus:

I’m fighting, I’m fightin’, I’m fightin’, I’m fightin’, I’m fightin’ on the Lord’s side.
I’m fighting, I’m fightin’, I’m fightin’, I’m fightin’, I’m fightin’ on the Lord’s side.

We continue with the verses: “Whose side are you livin’ on?” and “Whose side are you winnin’ on?”

Everyone in the world is on one side or the other. God doesn’t give us an alternative.

Last week I walked by Ray’s computer and noticed a bright yellow sticky note that Michelle (our customer service representative) had placed there. Along with a name and a phone number were these words: Would like to know what you did before Notgrass Co. and what led you to begin the family business.

We answer those questions often. These are the answers:

  • Ray was a minister for twenty-two years before we started Notgrass Company.
  • After our own homeschooling experience (which was wonderfully positive), we were ready to serve God in a different avenue and decided to begin a business that served homeschoolers.

The caller whose name and number were on the sticky note wanted more than the answers to those questions. She also had a complaint. When I wrote the lesson on Colonial Williamsburg in America the Beautiful, I included these words (which I just cut and pasted verbatim from the curriculum):

Work to restore Colonial Williamsburg began in 1926. American philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. provided major funding for the project. A philanthropist is a wealthy person who gives large amounts of money to help people in need or to support educational or cultural activities. John D. Rockefeller Sr. became wealthy in the petroleum business during the 1800s. He created the Rockefeller Foundation, which gave money to charities. His son, John D. Rockefeller Jr., continued the charitable work of his father. Williamsburg has been a popular tourist attraction since its restoration began. The Rockefellers blessed future generations with their kind charity.

In a lesson about the 1970s, I wrote this about President Gerald Ford:

Ford chose former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller as his Vice President and the Senate confirmed him.

When the children learn about Bill Gates in the unit on the 1980s, I wrote this:

[After his mother’s death from cancer] Melinda Gates encouraged her husband to do the work that his mother had done by serving others. Bill studied the lives of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller to learn from their giving.

I have just quoted every reference to the Rockefeller family in the entire curriculum. One method I use to help students learn history is to bring up people, events, and places they have already learned about in previous lessons. Since I had already taught the children about Carnegie and the libraries he funded across the country and Rockefeller’s giving to Colonial Williamsburg; when I learned that Bill Gates had tried to learn from them, I told the children about that. Another method I use in my writing for children is to tell good things about people. That’s why children who use America the Beautiful learn that the mother of President James Garfield was the first mother to see her son inaugurated, that she lived in the White House with his family, and that because she was frail he personally carried her up and down the White House stairs. It’s why they learn that President Rutherford B. Hayes always thought of his sister as his “dearest friend of childhood” and the “confidant of all [his] life.”

The caller went on to express concern that we had included the Rockefeller family in the curriculum. She told Ray that the Rockefeller Foundation supports Planned Parenthood and that it seemed as if we were holding them up as an example.

First of all, we were completely unaware that the Rockefeller Foundation supports Planned Parenthood. I am sad to hear that. I have never and would never support Planned Parenthood in any way. Second, it was not my intention to hold the Rockefeller family up as an example in everything that every family member did or will do in the future. I simply said that his gift to Colonial Williamsburg had blessed generations.

The caller went on to ask if Notgrass Company was supported by any group. By implication, Ray wondered if she thought we might be supported by the Rockefellers. None of us have ever met a Rockefeller or any member of their foundation. Neither they nor any other group has ever supported us in any way.

We’re just a family who loves God, who trusts in Jesus Christ and appreciates His love and forgiveness, and who writes every sentence we write with great care with the two-fold purpose of speaking the truth and encouraging a Christ-centered worldview in the children who use our materials. We are also a family who prays that our work will be a blessing to homeschooling families.

Still unaware of any connection at all to Planned Parenthood, in June I wrote a post about the philanthropy of David Rockefeller, grandson of John D. Rockefeller Sr. I am thankful for every dollar given to a worthy cause. I am sad about every dollar given to an unworthy one, especially one as vile as Planned Parenthood.

God inspired Paul to tell the Christians in Philippi this:

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute,
if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,
dwell on these things.
Philippians 4:8

That is what I was trying to do with the statements I have written in honor of people who have done good things. I still applaud them for that. I do not applaud anything people do that is not right or pure or lovely and I don’t see anything right, pure, or lovely in Planned Parenthood.

At the end of the day — and at the end of our lives and our children’s lives — what is most important is Whose we are and Whose side we are fightin’ and livin’ and winnin’ on.

“ . . . as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15

 

 

Share Now

5 Comments

  1. I want to put an arm around you this morning! It is hard to bear people misunderstanding our intentions. I’m so sorry you had to go through that! These things are just going to happen, sigh. So painful, but it’s an opportunity! We grow not only by reexamining ourselves and strengthening/fine-tuning our actions/words (if necessary) but also in our capacity to love and understand others without feeling the need to retaliate. In other words, it’s another adventure trusting God to work things out as we simply continue to obey Him. Sometimes we do need to take a stand for the truth and sometimes we are called to quietly endure and let it go. God is able to give us the wisdom and He assures us in our hearts, giving us that amazing Peace, that we are most certainly still in His will.
    That said, every wonderful, colorful historic figure is fully human and flawed- besides Christ! There will be the good the bad and the ugly. It’s whether we glorify the good or the bad that matters!

    for some reason I though of the verse:
    To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
    but probably more helpful is this passage:
    Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

    Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

  2. Thank you for speaking truth and sharing with me (through this blog) and students (through your curriculum) the kind actions of another person who, like myself, is sinful and capable also of unkind / unrighteous actions. As a homeschooling parent, these are the moments when we can teach our children important life lessons. Among them, God uses the pagan to bless his people (Egyptians giving gifts to the Israelites in Exodus). But if I remember correctly, at least one generation of Rockefellers claimed Christ…so they might be offended at the whole “pagan” thing. 😉

  3. I think a lesson can be learned here about how throughout generations, without God, we lose morals. That is reflected in who the Rockefellers support. Even if they support Planned Parenthood now, it doesn’t change the truth of the past. Keep writing the truth Charlene! You are a blessing to homeschoolers. Thank you for all your work!
    Stacy

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *