Using wooly worms (Pyrrharctia isabella) to predict winter is old American folklore that traces its history back to early Americana. Supposedly, Native Americans taught the pioneers to read wooly worms to predict winter weather. Wooly worm is the common name for the larval stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth. They are also called wooly bears.

Step 1
Look for wooly worms under rocks and inside hollow logs.
Step 2
Examine the wooly worm, paying attention to its bands of colors. The wooly worm will curl into a ball when touched or threatened. When they crawl, they can crawl very quickly!
Step 3
Wooly worm forecasters say that the size of the brown band of color will tell you what kind of winter is coming. Legend says that the thinner the brownish red bands, the harsher the winter will be. If the wooly worm is mostly brownish red in the middle, winter will be mild.
Step 4
Wooly worm enthusiasts claim an 85 percent success rate over the last few decades. Scientists tend to disagree and say wooly worm weather prediction is as unscientific as using groundhogs to predict winter weather. The groundhogs likely side with the wooly worms.
Step 5
Whether or not you believe in the power of wooly worms, they can be a fun project for children and adults.

{from www.ehow.com}

A Quiet Sun, a Cold Winter

The Old Farmer’s Almanac is calling for a colder-than-normal winter. One contributing factor is sunspots—or the lack of them!

This year and next, sunspot activity will be very, very light. Whenever this phenomenon has occurred in the past, the result has been a cooling influence on Earth. Solar experts believe that the Sun will remain calm for another year.
See sunspot activity for 2009.

Robert B. Thomas, who founded this Almanac in 1792, believed that weather on Earth was influenced by sunspots and solar radiation. Sunspots are magnetic storms on the surface of the Sun. Click here to read “What Are Sunspots?”


To this day, the Almanac uses three disciplines to predict the weather: meteorology, climatology, and solar activity. (See How We Predict the Weather.)

If you’re interested in learning more about the Sun’s effect on our climate, read “The Influence of Solar Activity on the Weather.”

Or, join this forum: “Are Sunspots Disappearing?”

Seasons of the Sun

Learn about the discovery of the 11-year solar cycle and its importance in predicting the frequency of sun spots and the strength of solar storms.

Hello Everyone, The date for the Scripps Howard Local Homeschool Spelling Bee has been set for Tuesday, January 5, 2010. It will be held at the Troy Christian Church located at 1440 E. St. Rt. 55, Troy, OH 45373. We will begin at 10:00 am so please arrive 15-20 minutes ahead to check in and get settled. Also, I will be sending an e-mail in November with some dates for practices. These are not required, but may be helpful for your spellers to learn how a bee is ran and to practice spelling with the other participants. These practices will take place in December at the Troy Public Library when we are closer to the bee. Thank you for your support of the bee and encouraging your children to participate. We do our best to make it a fun time for all. Please e-mail or call with any questions. Happy Spelling, Carol Hacker 698-3686

On Saturday, October 24th Christian Life Center will be having an event called CLC University. Lisa Cox will be teaching a class called Homeschooling 101: Myths, Legalities, Opportunities and Excitement Sign in and continental breakfast start at 8:30 in the CLC gym. Children's Ministry is provided for birth -5th grade. The cost is $4 which includes class materials, breakfast and snacks during the break (very important!!) The event continues until 12:30. Perhaps you know someone who is thinking about homeschooling. Invite them! Perhaps you are new to homeschooling and would like to become more connected. Perhaps you are a veteran homeschooler who would like to come for fellowship and sharing. Perhaps you are a group leader and will be able to post this on your blog or email loop! Please do so! During this time together we will look at biblical support for homeschooling. We will discuss the myths and truths about this lifestyle. We will talk a small bit about what the state requires and how to easily meet (and surpass) these requirements, we will talk about the pros and cons of homeschooling. We will also explore "To Test or Not to Test" dilemma that many struggle with from time to time. I will have many examples of educational portfolios for you to browse. Area opportunities will be outlined. And finally, during the last hour, I will have some information about how to bring learning excitement into your homeschool with the use of lapbooks, notebooking, unit studies and field trips galore! $4 is pretty reasonable for all of that...breakfast and snacks...children's ministry...wonderful fellowship and time for learning. Please contact Sheila at 898-8811 extension 203 to register or go to http://clcdayton.org/442324.ihtml

As I write this, it is nearly 4p.m. Monday, Oct. 12, 2009 & I just received word that Chris Klicka - one of HSLDA's original lawyers & a great friend to millions of homeschoolers - lost his long, hard battle w/MS just over an hour ago.  Below is Tracy's (his wife) final CarePages entry, written mere moments after is passing...Blessings, Kim<><

PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS SAINTS...

Dear praying friends,

There is a part of me that would have liked to keep this news to ourselves for a little while. Chris' journey toward home has been very public, which has been a blessing to us through your intercession and words of love and encouragement. Yet, at this moment, while his loss is so fresh, I had hoped to savor his last moments with us and his passing all to ourselves, but such is not the case.

So with great sadness and with a joy that we can barely contain, we announce that our husband/father Chris has gone home to be with the Lord. He slept peacefully lsat night, though his breathing was shallow and very rapid. Then this morning when the hospice nurse came to check him over, she commented specifically how low his blood pressure had gotten and that with the mottling around his knees and ankles, grayer skin tone and coldness in his face, that he didn't have much time left with us.

I had been sitting with Chris this morning telling him about Megan and her wedding dress and how kind God was to let all us girls be together when she found it. I told him I had so hoped he could see her in her dress before he went Home, and as I was talking two little tears trickled down his cheeks. I know he would have loved to see her! I know, too, he so wanted to be able to communicate with us at the end. It broke my heart to see his sadness. I imagine, though, too, that his tears were mingled with joy for Megan's future with Brendan.

After Anna (the hospice nurse) took Chris' vitals a second time, his blood pressure having dropped some more, she recommended that I get our kids down to see and talk to their dad.

I called them all from whereever they all were around the house, and when the last child came, Bethany announced, "Hey, Dad, we're all here. We love you!" Chris took one more breath and was gone.

I know to try and describe our sadness--the longing and aching in our hearts right now--would be impossible, so I won't try. I will share a picture the Lord gave within minutes after Chris' departure.

I saw him with his old western boots and jeans on (like he used to wear at Grove City College when he would run over to see me at my dorm--he was a senior and I was a freshman when we met there), running at top speed in Heaven. I pictured a huge smile (the one I love best) on his face and fellow saints yelling out greetings of welcome to him, some even asking him to stop and visit with them, and heard his reply, "I've got to run for the Lord up here. I'm making up for lost time down on Earth. I'm praising God and have to use my legs to do it. Stop me in about 100 years, and we'll sit down and have a nice long visit!"

Two days before God brought Chris home the Lord gave me this short verse to encourage me:

"No longer cloaked in frail humanity,
His spirit soars to gain Celestial joys,
Unimpeded by death's dark night
And free from the weight of sin's alloys.

My beloved sings! The object of his song
Is the One who bled and died for him,
No sweeter name did e'er he speak
Or treasure in his inner man."

Thank you, for both grieving AND rejoicing with us, and for your continued prayers for us these next weeks and months!

Looking forward to that day, when we too, shall see our beloved Jesus face to face,
Tracy, for Chris (one last time) and the whole Klickaclan

I want to take a moment to introduce myself as the new coordinator for McCheo. My name is Amy Welborn and I am super excited for this year! I am the wife to an amazingly patient man, Brent. We are blessed beyond measure and have five wonderful children: Bennett is 7 years old and will be continuing on in 1st grade, Eve is 4 years old God graciously placed her in our family through adoption. Johanna is 3 years old, Kent is 18 months and Lucy is 6 weeks! I will be honest to say I never imagined I'd be homeschooling. The Lord changed my heart after my pregnancy required me to be on bed-rest with Kent and we were unable to send Bennett to pre-K as planned. It's funny how His plan doesn't always line up with ours but it always prevails! Praise Him for that!! I can say, however, that I sure am glad His plan came through. I enjoy teaching the children and seeing how much the are learning and often learning along with them! With the vacancy of a coordinator, the need of a support group and lots and lots of prayer I felt led to jump in as county coordinator. I continue to pray that this group will glorify His name and that we will be able to encourage one another, "as iron sharpens iron"(Proverbs 27:17). Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions or comments. In Him, amy welborn

Quick & easy...

~1/2 c. baking soda

~Liquid Castile Soap

1)  In a bowl, add Castile Soap to baking soda until mixture is creamy & thick.

2)  Dip dampened cleaning cloth (or homemade dish cloth) as needed into mixture, wash dirty surface, rinse.  Leaves no grit!

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

Lisa Cox ~
Waves of Mercy Homeschool Co-Op Coordinator
Homeschool Portfolio Assessor
BIG Used Curriculum Sale Coordinator

I Cor. 1:1&2 – “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.  I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you.”

 

Have you ever stopped to take the time to thank the person(s) who first educated you on the subject of homeschooling?

 

Where would we (and our families) be without them and the concern they showed us by taking the time to explain this godly plan of education?

 

Think of all the things you would have missed in your children’s lives.  Wasn’t it wonderful to watch that light come on in their eyes when they finally realized that the numeral 3 represented three things?  Wasn’t it exciting when she was so inspired by a book she had just read to sit down and write a story of fiction herself?...And it was good!  Wasn’t it incredible when he found that cicada shell on the tree, got out his magnifying glass and really got excited about pointing our that he knew where the head, thorax and abdomen were without being asked?  Wasn’t it thrilling when your family went to the beach for the first time (remember, I’m from Ohio!) and your kids couldn’t collect enough seashells because they finally, fully realized that God made each and every one of them and that there were no two alike?  Oh, the things we would have missed if not for these faithful friends who told us that our kids could stay home for school!

 

Think of the relationship you have with each child that you would not have if they had spent 6-8 hours a day, over 24,000 hours, away from you each day during their school career.  Aren’t you grateful that you could instill your values and the teachings of Scripture to them instead of “de-programming” them every night?  Or that they are not caught “between the rock and the hard place” of having to “divide allegiances”?  By that I mean that they don’t have to be seduced  by the pressure of believing that “cool” socialist Humanities teacher or that smug, self-assured atheistic Biology teacher vs. Dad, Mom and the Bible.  Think of the heartache, and possible harassment, they have been spared so that they can be nurtured in the Truth of the Gospel and taught to defend their faith in the proper time.  (I can find  no place in Scripture where God sent a child out to evangelize.)  By the time they complete their home education, by God’s grace, they will be mature and secure enough in their faith that they can defend themselves against the “cool” socialist and the smug, self-assured atheist.  I must be frank and tell you that I know very few Christian kids in public schools who are secure enough in their faith that they can properly defend it.  Thanks to God’s faithfulness and those dear friends who told us about homeschooling, you and I have had the opportunity to instruct our  children “in the way they should go.”  (Prov. 22:6 & Deut. 6:4-9)

 

Titus 2:7 says, “In everything set them an example by doing what is good.  In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and  soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose  you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about you.”  Now it’s our turn.  If you have a year or more of homeschooling under your belt, then welcome to The Example Club!  Just as those who blazed the trails ahead of us, just as those who lovingly mentored us, just as those who set that godly example for us to follow…let us not miss the chance to encourage a nervous mom full of questions, hopes and dreams.  Don’t be afraid to be used by God!...If God used Balaam’s donkey, I KNOW He can use me…and you, too!  Someone is watching and wants what you have, just as you watched someone else at one time.

 

Thank the dear ones who God used to get you on the road to homeschooling and don’t be afraid for Him to use you in the same way.

 

Blessings from Ohio,

Kim Wolf<><

P.S.  Thanks Sono and Gregg!!

On May 28, 2009 USA Today published a story based on a report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which is part of the Federal Department of Education, titled “The Condition of Education 2009.” The headline of the USA Today story was “Profound shift in kind of families who are homeschooling their children.” A few days later the title was changed to “More higher-income families are homeschooling their children.”

Regrettably, among other problems with the article, USA Today made one blatant error and one very misleading claim. The blatant error is USA Today’s statement that homeschoolers are increasingly white. We do not understand how USA Today can reach this conclusion. Simply by reading the NCES report you will discover that the estimates for white homeschoolers, as a percentage of the entire homeschool population, were 75.3% in 1999, 77% in 2003 and 76.8% in 2007. The obvious conclusion is that for the years 1999–2007 white homeschoolers consistently represented just over three-quarters of the homeschool population.

HSLDA asked the NCES to comment on the USA Today article. Below is a statement from JoAnn Webb, a spokesman for the NCES, “The percentage of all homeschoolers who are White, non-Hispanic has not changed over this period (in the mid-70 percent range).”

Another misleading claim, as the revised title for the story states, is that more higher-income families are homeschooling their children. Again, USA Today failed to correctly read the report. In order to make their point, USA Today defines “higher-income” as families whose household income is over $50,000. How many people really consider $50,000 in household income “higher-income?” For comparison, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2006 married-couple families with one or more related children under age 18, the median nationwide income was $74,049. It is very misleading for USA Today to boldly assert that more “higher-income” families are homeschooling when out of the 60% of families they cite as being “higher-income” — (26.8% in the $50,001–$75,000 bracket and 33.2% in the $75,001 or more bracket) the 26.8% that USA Today believes to be “higher-income” actually have below average incomes.

Also, as has been confirmed by the NCES, the income figures between 1999 and 2007 were not adjusted for inflation. This means that the same type of person answering the NCES survey in 1999 that fell in the $25,001–$50,000 income bracket could easily find themselves in the $50,001–$75,000 bracket in 2007 since an income of $45,000 in 1999 becomes $55,518.63 in 2007 after adjusting for inflation.

It’s a shame that in an era when hundreds of diverse media outlets are able to accurately report on the homeschool movement a major newspaper has made such simple errors.

Perhaps the writer was just in a rush to be first, since his story was published on the day the NCES report was released online, or perhaps he has an agenda to falsely paint homeschoolers as rich and white, thereby dismissing the full range of people who are making tremendous sacrifices on limited budgets to ensure that the next generation receives the best education and upbringing available. Either way USA Today should make additional corrections to their factually inaccurate story.

Many homeschoolers keep family gardens...especially this year...so, here is some interesting advice from my latest installment of The Old Farmer's Almanac newsletter...

Combating Critters
Do you have any critters in your garden—rabbits, moles, slugs? Here is some advice to help:

• To keep rabbits out of your garden, surround it with fencing at least 3 feet high and 8 inches below the surface.

• Plant rue to keep cats out of your garden.

• To see a mole “run out, astonished” (according to 16th-century herbalist John Gerard), put a bulb of garlic in its hole.

• To deter deer and raccoons, tie old sneakers and clothes that smell of human perspiration to garden posts.

• Scatter garlic around your garden to deter many a pest—such as deer, woodchucks, and raccoons.

• Sprinkle ground red pepper in entrances to mole tunnels.

• If your neighbors don’t mind, play a radio at low volume.

Blessings, Kim Wolf<><

I am selling our 8' x 4' chalkboard that was from the original Troy Christian School.  It is in great condition & I am asking $150.00.  I will even include the eraser & chalk!  Haha.  It served us very well for 11 of our 16 years of homeschooling.

I am also selling my complete set of YEAR 1 Tapestry of Grace - 
"The History of Redemption" for $150.00.  Also included are the "Map Aids" & "Reproducables" DC-Roms.  This is valued at $250.00 (Bundle 1) on the website.  It's even all put together in 3 3-ring binders for you!

Unfortunately, b/c of time & shipping expense - & b/c my DH is laid off - I'm only offering this to local folks who can come & pick up these goodies.  By "LOCAL" I mean anyone from Miami, Montagomery, Preble, Clark, Darke, Shelby, Greene, Champaigne & other Ohio counties local to Miami.  If you have any questions, let me know.

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

Yesterday, my DH & I deep cleaned our school room (A.K.A. the laundry room, the computer room).  We found things tucked - or stuffed - away that we had forgotting about.  Things we hadn't seen in years.  LOTS of memories after 16 years of homeschooling.

It surprised & some-what saddened me that the girls didn't want to keep certain things; and as I don't want to be a pack-rat, I didn't keep them, either.  We are keeping certain things b/c of sentiment & b/c  our girls will most likely homeschool their children (HOPING that it is STILL LEGAL by then).  Books and resources covering all age/grade levels; particularly those wonderful old readers that were once my grandmother's or my mother's or mine; and especially the McGuffey Reader's, Ray's Arithmetic, classics & old home-keeping manuals. 

But there are other books and resources we are keeping for other reasons.

We are keeping their high school History, Government & Science books b/c, as things are changing so quickly in America, even IF homeschooling should be legal when our DDs homeschool their children, we fear that it will be strickly controlled.  They may not be able to purchase books and resources containing GOD'S TRUTH about the Sciences or they may contain even more revisionist history than our public schools already spew.  We want our children to be able to teach our grandchildren TRUTH.  God's truth, as it applies to these subjects. 

We continue to pray for our beloved America, but we look to the East, as well.

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

{This is the script of one of the speeches I give on Christian women's issues.}

Have you ever thought of your life as being touched with destiny?  Everyone one of us here…no matter the circumstances of our birth, no matter the home life we were born into, no matter our economic status – or lack there-of – have been born with the plan of God in mind.  Our choice is if we will allow God to use us. 

Those of us who are mothers probably remember the moment we found out we were expecting for the first time.  Oh, remember all those day-dreams of pink and blue.  Of all the pretty little ruffles and bows we would dress our little girl in – or – as our husbands would remind us – the choice of whether our baby’s room would be decorated in Ohio State scarlet and grey or Bengal’s black and orange tiger stripes!  And then after all those important decisions were settled by reminding each other that the baby wasn’t even here yet; then the nerves set in…

…and the prayers…

“Oh Lord, am I ready for this? I thought I was, now I don’t know…cause it’s gonna hurt!  But, it will be worth it because I know You’ll give me the sweetest tempered, most loveable, most huggable, happy, compliant baby…but….just in case it should cry, just in case it should get sick…am I ready for this?”

No matter how much we pretended to be the best mommy when we were little girls, no matter how many younger siblings we helped take care of when we were growing up, no matter how many families we babysat for when we were teenagers…there’s NOTHING like having your own baby, is there?  So many things that Mom never told you about!  Everything from how morning sickness doesn’t actually end at noon, to how fatigue can hit you like a smack in the face, to how much you will LOVE that baby.  Isn’t it funny how changing YOUR baby’s diapers was never as bad as changing those of other babies?

And no one can ever tell you about how that love will show you the heart of God and how He loves His children.  Especially when it comes to what we will have to face – good and bad – when it comes to our children.  Do you think that we break our heavenly Father’s heart when we disobey?  Do you think, as our heavenly Father, that God’s arms burn to hold us and comfort us when He knows our future and the things that must pass, the furnaces we must walk through to become the children and have the testimony He wants us to have?  I do.

My husband, Ty, and I married in the fall of 1984.  Our marriage began in a little country church on a beautiful fall day filled with my favorite spectrum of colors…yellows, golds, rusts, reds, burgundies, and the deeper greens of autumn.  I took my farm-boy out of the country into Dayton and we enjoyed our new marriage and traveled on weekends with a contemporary Christian band he sang in; we enjoyed our friends, our church and our new-found status as a married couple in our extended families.  Soon we discovered that we were going to have a baby!  We would barely get to celebrate our 1^st wedding anniversary before it came.  As we were the 1^st of our circle of newly married friends (5 couples of us married w/in 4 months) to take the next step, everyone was very excited for us.  We were on our way to having those 5 kids that we had always talked about.

Oh, mothers, aren’t those 1^st months of pregnancy “great”?!  Where were you when your 1^st bout of morning sickness hit you?  Mothers, and we ARE mothers during pregnancy, soon find out that our sweet little ¼” long babies cause our body to take on a mind of it’s own!  My babies told my body to eat things like Taco Bell bean burritos, raspberries and ice cold tomatoes w/salt and pepper.  What did yours like?

Well, as with all things related to time, days turned into weeks and weeks into months.  In the latter months I soon found myself so swollen that I had to switch shoes at least 3 times a day…each one gradually a little looser fitting.  Then I noticed that I had NO ankles!  And in the last month I had about 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants that I could fit into…including a pair of my husband’s old sweat pants w/the elastic taken out!  On my next trip to the Dr., he very quietly, very calmly told me, “I’m not worried about the baby, so don’t YOU worry, but I want to you go home, pack your bags, call your husband and have him take you the hospital.  We’re going to admit you TODAY.” 

Well, how do you NOT worry about a thing like that?  I was still 15 days short of my due date.  Well, you know how those pregnancy hormones are…I told myself that since the Dr. wasn’t worried about the baby that I could handle this change of plans.  It wasn’t until my husband came home to get me that I realized that something must be wrong w/ME and as soon as the door opened I fell into his poor, confused arms and sobbed.

Once we got to the hospital, we went through the admitting process and I was astounded at the weight I’d gained in a week.  I was also shocked that the nurses were so shocked that my legs were the same size from my hip to my ankle.  Didn’t all preggos swell like this?  I was equally concerned when they didn’t say ANYTHING after they took my blood pressure.  When my Dr. came in, he again reassured me that the baby was fine but that I had Toxemia and I had to stay in bed until the baby was born b/c I had retained so much fluid and my blood pressure was at pre-stroke level.  Mind you…he was saying this in the calmest way possible so that my blood pressure wouldn’t go up even more!!

Five days passed, not only was my swelling and water gain not going down, but neither was my blood pressure.  The decision was made to take our predicted 10 lb boy by c-section the next day. 

Before 7a.m. I was wheeled into surgery with my sweet, nervous hubby following behind me.  I remember a sweet little nurse popping her head over mine as I lay on the table, saying, “Do you realize that in 5 minutes you’re going to me a mommy?!”  FIVE MINUTES!! 

Before I knew it, the Dr. told my frightened husband to look over the little curtain to see what he had.  All I can say is that LIGHT absolutely BEAMED from my husband’s face.  Whatever our baby was, I knew then and there that it was beautiful.  Then, to the shock of us all, the Dr. said, “It’s a GIRL!”  A 7lb. 10 oz. 19” long precious baby girl!  Jessica had come to join our family!

The worst part about having a c-section is that all you can do after is sleep.  It’s also the protocol for many hospitals to keep c-section babies in the nursery for 4 hours before bringing them into the mother’s rooms.  Just in case we ever wondered, this was another opportunity for God to show us that He was watching out for our little family.  During an exam a nurse noticed that the tube she was using to suction Jessica’s nose with turned and came out the other side.  Just to make sure, she did it again.  Same result.  This was a clue that she needed to get the Dr. in to verify a suspicion…after x-rays the suspicion proved correct. 

Jessica was born with a Trechial Esophogial Fistula.  Her esophagus actually grew into her lungs instead of going into her stomach.  If I would have nursed her after birth, she could have drowned.  Immediately, the decision was made to take her to Children’s for surgery.  The surgeon assured us that this happens in 1 in 4,000 births and that he personally does 2 of these surgeries a month.  She was other-wise very healthy and because of that she sailed through a 9 hour surgery in 4 hours!  In a few days, like so many other babies w/a fistula, she also had to have a trache put in.  Believe me, there’s NOTHING like your baby watching every move you make while you put in her trache tube for the 1^st time!   The Drs were all very encouraging and she came home 5 weeks and 1 days after she was born. 

Jessica was home!  There may be doubters, but I’m telling you that she KNEW she was home!  She slept soundly and comfortably and learned to laugh in our home.

One cold January, on a Saturday morning, when Jessica was 12 weeks and 4 days old, my husband got up to change her diaper and have a little Daddy Time w/her so I could get 5 more minutes in our warm bed.  I heard a noise and looked up as Ty came running wide-eyed into our room.  “I’m calling an ambulance!  Something’s wrong w/Jessica!”  I went in and she was still breathing but was limp and ashen.  Everything was such a rush!  The EMT’s came in, looked at her, and after taking her vitals and using a hand pump over her trache, they snatched up my baby, ran down the stairs and put her in the ambulance.  I tried to get in the back but they pushed me up to the front seat w/the driver.  I can tell you EXACTLY when she left this world.  We were crossing the Stanley St. bridge and the men in back started screaming for the driver to hurry! 

We got to Children’s and I watched them run, carrying my sweet baby into the ER…and I waited for Ty to get there as he had driven behind us.  We were ushered into a little room where we called our parents and prayer warrior friends.  There was a young lady who was the clergy on duty that morning who was assigned to us.  I told her, “Listen, we’re Christians and I don’t want you praying any pansy prayers like you would w/unbelievers clinging to anything they can.  If you pray…then you PRAY!”  We prayed.  She would come in and out and give us up-dates.  Finally, after an hour and a half, the Dr came in and told us that she was gone.  They tried so hard but she wouldn’t stay. 

My baby?  MY BABY?!  My baby that I’d had her name picked out since I was 15 years old?  My baby that I sang “Jesus Loves Me” to my whole pregnancy so that she would know it when she was born?  My baby that I had nearly died to have?

Oh God!  What has happened to our world?  God, did You feel this way when Jesus died and had to be separated from You before the resurrection?  How do we live through this?  How DO I live through this? 

In John 6 Jesus told the nearly 150 disciples that to follow Him they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood.  Vs. 60 says, “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching.  Who can accept it?’”  Many of them left until practically only the 12 remained.  Jesus turned to them and said, “You do not want to leave too, do you?”  And for once Peter didn’t have his foot in his mouth and he said one of the most profound things anyone trying to hang on to reality could ever remember:  “Lord, to whom shall we go?  YOU have the words of eternal life…”

The next several days were a blur of shock and sadness, but we hung on to Jesus.  My body still prepared itself to feed Jessica – but she wasn’t there; my arms ached to hold her – but she wasn’t there.  After weeks of all the activity that surrounds a new baby, my world just seemed to stop.

But I have to tell you ladies, that God IS still on the throne!  He does lift us up and He does get us through.  His Son didn’t leave this world w/o scars, why should we think we should be any different? 

When the smoke started to clear and we got slowly got back to living life, the Lord gave me a verse I have claimed as my life verse:  2 Cor. 1:3-4 – “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

That’s destiny.

Mothers, everything we go through has the purpose of destiny behind it.  Jessica was put here not only to bless our lives for 3 months, but to teach us about the heart of God toward His children.  We also had 2 miscarriages between Jessica and our other beautiful daughters, Jasper and Jenna.  (Did you notice that God DID give us the 5 we prayed for?  Just not the way we thought He would.)  But we have been able to minister to others who have gone through those same things like no others can.  Because we had Jesus to rely on, we have been able to step out and do more and say more than would ever have been possible before.  The Lord used what we went through to make us strong and bold for His glory…not our own.

Mothers, you have been chosen to do extraordinary things!  Your attitude in the “mundane” is what teaches your daughters character and perseverance and joy in their home.  Your “everyday” is what shows them that life is worth living because when they grow up, they will be blessed with the privilege of caring for their children.  All the wiping of bottoms and noses, all the patty-cakes, all the same stories read over and over again, all the skinned knees, the chicken pox, the school lessons, re-learning new math, field trips, talks about the facts of life, first crushes and broken hearts, graduations…and letting go.

Mothers, all these things have YOUR fingerprints on them!  Your fingerprints are all over your children!  Your destiny is them!  Because God has touched your life with destiny, because everything that He has taken you through – even what seems so boring and mundane -- has taught you something that you can pass down to your children and, in the spirit of Titus 2, pass down to the younger mothers that you know.  And because of that, the Lord has written about YOU in His Word…

“She is clothed with strength and dignity;

She can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom,

And faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household

And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed;

Her husband also, and he praises her:

‘Many women do noble things,

But you surpass them all.’

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

But a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”

 

Now THAT’S destiny!