by Teri Ong A few months ago I was doing testing for a group of home-schoolers. The testing was being done in a “big box” church building. It is a great facility for school testing, with its many neatly appointed classrooms and large restrooms. While my husband was waiting for me to finish my duties, he overheard someone from the main church office contact one of the maintenance people on a walkie-talkie. The person in the office instructed the maintenance man to make sure that the “self-serve communion table” was properly set up and equipped. That was a new one […]

by Teri Ong This has been a year of “moving to the next phase” for our family and for many in our close circle of friends. In our family, Child No. 7 graduated from high school Child No. 6 graduated from college Child No. 5 got married Child No. 4 got into career employment in law enforcement Child No. 3 celebrated a year of marriage Children Nos. 2 and 1 are adding babies to their families On the opposite side of happy, we lost Steve’s dad and several other extended family members, close friends, and mentors in death. The unusual […]

by Teri Ong We have been on vacation this week at our favorite condo spot. We have the same week every year– the week right after graduation. It is the perfect finish to our school years, no matter how imperfect the rest of the year may or may not have been. As it turns out, we had a wonderful academic year seasoned with the sugar and spice of a daughter’s wedding and medicated with the castor oil of our K-12 school moving out under another church. Six days away from home wasn’t a life-saving necessity this year, but it was […]

By Teri Ong Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight! 22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink, 23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right! (Isaiah 5:20-23 NASU) The state of the state of Colorado is not good! In […]

The Nature of Christian Education and the Contemporary Mindset  by Teri Ong We are just now finishing our school year and preparing for testing and the grading of final projects. Things are winding down. As I look back on perhaps the most difficult semester I have had in several years, and evaluate it in light of having just taught two courses on the history and philosophy of education, one thing stands out, illuminated against a dark background: Christian education should be essentially a conservatory activity. Government-sponsored education is “progressive” in nature. By that, I mean teachers and administrators of government […]

by Teri Ong I woke up Saturday morning (as I do most mornings) to the voice of the KOA early morning talk show host. The regular Saturday morning man and woman were not on the air and were replaced by a man who usually “talks” at a different hour of the day. The topic of conversation filling the minutes between news, weather and sports, was whether it was good or bad that the drinking age had been raised from 18 to 21 many years ago now. The host’s point of view was that since 18 year olds can make many […]

by Teri Ong  It has been an unusual three months for our family. For being the ages we are, meaning myself and my husband Steve, both of us being over the hill and slightly down the other side, up to now we have had very little death to deal with. We all pass through the stages in life when it seems that all of our friends are getting married, then everybody we know is having a baby, then everybody we know has children who are graduating and getting married, then everybody we know is having grandchildren… But we are now […]