Jun. 26, 2009 - This Blog has moved!
If you are looking for my blog you will need to go here http://homeschoolingfromgodsheart.blogspot.com/
to find it. I really wanted to keep my homeschooling blog on homeschool blogger, however because I could never seem to post pictures (even after changing it to the required size for HSB) I have made the decision to move my blog to e-blogger where I can up load pictures much more easily. Thanks HSB for getting me started on this blog journey and I am sad to bid you farewell.
Jun. 14, 2009 - No such luck!
So I posted earlier today that I would try to get some pictures on here. SO SUCH LUCK! I am considering ditching this blog site due to making my picture sizes the size they say it must be and STILL not being able to post my pics! The site tells me it is too big! WHAT???? I don't get it. Anyway, I may keep this blog for a little while until I can get everything transferred to my other blog! I re-read sometimes what I wrote to encourage myself in the Lord. I am happy if this blog has ever encouraged you in any way, however I really have written it more for myself and my own encouragement. Kind of like David's Psalms were not only for others but many time more for himself. With that I will no longer be posting here as I really would like to be able to upload pictures with out having to learn HTML to do it. I am so NOT a technical person (that would be my hubby - the computer guy - but he really doesn't have the time to help me with this trivial issue).
With that I will say "Goodbye Homeschool Blogger. I wish you all the best!" Nice job to those of you techie people out there who have been able to figure out this whole pic thing here on HSB.
Have a lovely summer and I will only post once more to give my new blog link in the next few weeks or months after I have it all set up.
Jun. 14, 2009 - So Where have I been????
Due to truly wanting to post pictures on my blog here I got a bit frustrated with posting. Sigh. I really wanted to be able to show you my workbox system, although I may change it now that I have seen more of them. HA! So, in September when I began this thread again (maybe as soon as August!) I will. Until then, we are re-arranging our home! Remember my last post said something about wishing for more room so that my husband could have his own office space and such? Well, that is coming true. However his idea of never having our school stuff showing to the world isn't. I am moving out of the school room! He is moving into the boys room and the boys are moving into the school room. The school room is moving into the kitchen-dining-living room (it is all one not-too-big, open area). With that we will be able to live with in our space. So that I could post pictures with out problems I have posted all this on my other blog site, here - http://taylordbygod.blogspot.com/
I wish I could post this stuff here because here is where I want to post our family living stuff. My hubby did discover something and showed me about making the pictures smaller so that the website might be able accept them. I am going to try it with my profile picutre today if I can figure it out again. Not too computer savey here, but will give it a shot. So if you are reading this and I have a picture of my own in my profile you can bet your boots I will be putting up some pictures in this blog when I post about something that is just better "seen" than "written", like workboxes!
All my workboxes right now are put away as I rearrange our house and make it more of a home. By August most of our homeschooling stuff should be out and ready for me to begin using again. At that time I will figure out how our system of workboxes will be working and then I will post more on this subject. Till then, keep checking my other blog for how our progress is going!
Toodles!
May. 4, 2009 - Changing the thought pattern...
I have decided to change the thought pattern of my blog here at homeschool blogger. I have another blog called Taylor'd By God on Eblogger and I think I will keep that blog for posting things that my gracious Lord is teaching me as I walk by His side and learn to be His disciple. Soooo, for my first blog here I think I will post about something that seems to be a very HOT topic among homeschooling moms right now, Workboxes. I just purchased the ebook as I didn't want to wait for a long time for it to get to me in the mail. Oh! and look at that my email with my new book just came in! How exciting. I only purchased it after seeing what some are doing to adjust it for their family. We have four children and a small house (only 1500 sq. ft. of living space). My hubby is picky about how things look in our home as far as being tacky or not. With that, one of the four bedrooms is our school room. I really could use three more, to separate the three boys (their room is barely big enough for the 3 beds in there) and put my hubby's office in another. I just couldn't see how I would be able to fit 12 boxes on shelves in my house for each of the four children. Thus, my research began! I Googled Workbox system, Workbox Ideas, Workbox, etc. I checked out several blogs and what a gifting some of you out there have in the way of being creative. I saw pictures of everything from decorated cereal boxes to manila envelopes to stackable dwars to the original workbox type stations. They were all great. I understand that the author really recomends using shoeboxes or similar sized boxes but when your space is VERY limited or your family is very large or both! That can make it very difficult. I will be blogging here over the next several week what I am going to do in my homeschooling room and how I will organize this system to fit our family's needs and space. I hope that it will give others hope in what I do and inspire you to be creative to make the nessasary adjustments to maybe make this system work for you. I will try and post pictures (I have not had much luck on this blog site with that in the past and don't know if it will work) and if I can't get the pictures to upload I will try and explain in the best detail possible.
Jun. 15, 2008 - Immeasurable peace, joy and love
I haven't written in quite a while, so I thought, "I can't let my almost 13 year old son to 'out blog' me!"...lol.
Anyway, God has been amazingly good, as if you didn't already know that...hee hee.
His love is so deep! Here is how I explained it to someone recently. It is like standing on the edge of the
"The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you." 2Cor. 13:14 (The Message Bible)
Feb. 16, 2008 - The Good Wife's Guide...
I received the following in an email the other day. I have posted some of my thoughts on the subject after wards. Many of you may have already seen/read this before, I have. I personally find it a wonderful example of Jesus and his love through serving.
An Actual 1955 Good Housekeeping article.
The Good Wife's Guide
* Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.
* Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. HE has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
* Be a little gay and a little more interested for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
* Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.
* Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper, etc and then run a dustcloth over the tables.
* Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
* Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimise all noise. At the time of his arrival, elimintate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.
* Be happy to see him.
* Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.
*Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.
* Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.
* Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquillity where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.
* Don't greet him with complaints and problems.
* Don't complain if he's late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.
* Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
* Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
* Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.
* A good wife always knows her place.
My provision comes from God, not my husband. My comfort comes from God, not my husband. My daily concerns are left at the feet of God, not my husband. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is caring for me and all I need will come from him. That nothing my husband does will remove God's hand on my life. This means that I can trust God to come to my rescue...here is the big one....EVEN IF MY HUSBAND FAILS.
WOW! That was a real revelation to me this week! I can trust God just as the women of old, and accept the authority of my husband. It doesn't matter if I think he is making godly choices or not. It doesn't matter if his choices cause us to not have any income for a whole month or two or even three, because my provision doesn't come from my husband. My security doesn't come from my husband.
Jan. 29, 2008 - God Blesses this House, but He Doesn't Clean It!
My mom, who is a personality consultant, has coached me well and....well ladies for us "not naturally organized types" the "Maintenance Program" (the staying organized by maintaining our home) is one we will always be trying to figure out. If it is a priority it will get done. However, as my mom puts it, I have just put my priorities on other things. Which she (who is VERY NATURALLY ORGANIZED and I really could have used that personality stuff for her when I was growing up) says that only after the personality insights, she is now understanding better how I think. I put relationships before house work, cooking, or anything else that deals with inanimate objects. If I have someone to do it with me I am more apt to do it than if I must do it by myself. I am in need of MAKING the Maintenance Program a priority in my life. It is between me and my Lord. As He is the one who created me with this relational personality. He is the one who has put passion in my heart for people and it is I who must learn to allow Him to direct that passion, and to keep my spirit at rest in Him when I know I need to "MAINTAIN" the house, the kids, the laundry, etc. As He is also the one who has blessed me with my house, my kids and our laundry.
I did find a comment from a seminar or some speaker once that was a bit piercing to my soul. It went something like this...With more blessings come more responsibilities. Hum, sounds like something my mom would say...lol. No really, I began to realize that with more "STUFF" came more responsibilities. Now that doesn't mean that I am not still working out my salvation with fear and trembling. There is a closet under our stairs that when I think I might need to find something in there, I tremble, every time...lol. But I did do a purge of some un-needed laundry, and a couple of rooms as well as toys, this past summer. This helped some. I know that this summer will be FULL of purging needs and I am praying I have the courage to face them and "Just Do It" (no I do not own any Nikes, but they had a good slogan). One recommendation that was also made was to be sure that if you keep something that it has a home, if not then either
a) you need to make a home for it - be it a basket or shelf or bucket or b) you need to throw/give it away!
I did get rid of a TON of stuff that would have made an amazing garage sale this last summer. I didn't keep it for the garage sale “we would one day have.” Instead I sent it to one of our church’s outreaches to give away or sell it in one of their garages sales. It was WONDERFUL being free of it all! We even had our garage back (till dh moved his office back into the house!)
I am hearing the prompting of the Holy Spirit in this area again and he is telling me to "Get on the Band Wagon!" I know that as I get rid of the privileges that I really don’t need the responsibility load will be lightened and then I won’t have to be doing chores (hopefully) till 10pm every night to try and “maintain.” I will be freer to have people over as my house will always be ready for them. I will be free to do more without guilt, because my chores are done and my responsibilities are then taken care of. I look forward to the end result of this process. The process is itself not a pretty one, but I know what freedom feels like and I want to be bound no longer!
Jan. 3, 2008 - What a Year!
2007 was an amazing year! So much happened that I thought I would blog it, as this is the first year I could have sent out "Reflections of our Year" with cards but didn't because I just haven't had any time to sit and write until tonight.
Last January God began taking me on a journey. It was difficult and bitter sweet. I learned that I had some hidden pride to deal with. I learned that I needed to ask God if I was to step out and help others, even when they asked. This I like to call this "authorization to assist". I learned last year at this time that when I had done this with someone that the help they requested and I offered was taken all wrong and thought of as being prideful and controlling. Hum, so when I feel the need to help, I've now learned to step back and ask the Lord if I should and then be okay with letting it go if He says no.
In February of last year, the Lord removed the last of my "crutches." Even my hubby was too busy to spend much time with me as the Lord was dealing with his fear and distrust in God to provide. The loneliness began to set in and depression constantly was at my door, hounding me to let him in to mess with me. I did let him in two or three times and it wasn't pretty, the bruises and scrapes I endured from it, not to mention my family having to endure a messy house and no dinners because I was too emotionally crippled to do anything. I went to a women's retreat help for our church's women and rejection and abandonment hit me like a load of bricks and the loneliness set itself high above God. The Lord spoke to me there very clearly that I was in this lonely state because He had placed me there. That it was for me to understand my best friend and where she was at and suffering so I would be able to relate to her situation better. I told the Lord that I would bear it for her, as my heart ached for her heart to return to the Lord. The Lord also stated that I didn't have to be there alone. That He wanted to join me, but that I needed to ask him to come and be with me during my loneliness. It was a time of being in the desert, a parched and weary place, but the company of the Holy Spirit was refreshing and kept me walking and not giving up. During all this my best friend's heart was grabbed hold of by a new understanding of the love of God (for it is His kindness that leads us to repentance, right?). She is nearly back to herself now and we are enjoying our friendship together again!
WOW! What a year!
As a family, we took our first real family vacation. This is the first time off my hubby has taken since our youngest son (now 9 years old) was born. We took two and a half weeks to travel to
As we began our homeschool year number....I need to count....9???? WOW where has the time gone???? We have grown in so many ways!
We are doing well and going at a great pace. The year closed out for us with friends and family, a new outlook on life and a rejuvenated and intimate relationship with the Lord. We definitely have found we've been bitten by the travel bug and know that there are opportunities with our church for some travel around the
Nov. 27, 2007 - THANKSgiving
What a wonderful and beautiful Thanksgiving weekend we had this year. We went to my parents' house and had a wonderful feast. On Friday we decided to go to the mountain with the kids. What fun we had. The sky was very blue and the snow what about 2 feet deep (that was my guess). The kids played and then learned a little about this active volcano we live near. The full moon was beautiful and at the end as we were getting into our car, the Lord let us see a little black, four legged, fluffy creature with a white tipped tail. It was a fox! It was so cute. We tried to get pictures, but because it was so dark and the fox was black all you could see in the picture was two glowing eyes. It was really quite funny. Saturday we relaxed and then spent three hours trying to find the tree lot we bought our tree at last year. At one point we were only two miles away from it and decided it must have been somewhere else...aaaauuuugghh! After that three hour search we got hungry so we gave up the hunt and went out for wood fired pizza. Sunday proved to be better tree hunting day (I am sure due to the fact that I asked google for directions...lol). We arrived half an hour before they closed and found just the right tree. The kids were having so much fun running through the "forest". The sounds of giggles from Michaela and laughter from the boys was music to my ears. They helped cut the tree down and since our oldest got to finish the last cut last year our second oldest insisted it was his turn this year. He was so proud, like a strutting rooster in a hen house full of hens. Dad carried out to the car and tied it down. As he slid off the back of the car roof the kids yelled "look it's Santa!" when all we could see were his feet and some legs. We then came home and had dinner and decorated our beautiful tree. Of course the kids' ornaments took up all the room and so my ornaments are still in their boxes. I think I need two trees if I am ever to get to put up my ornaments again before any of them move out.
Oct. 24, 2007 - Blessings
Today has been a long day. We have a break from the YMCA this week and that has been nice. I have been plugging away at school, however, I dream for the day that my children are self learners and that I might have a bit of free time. Is this just me???? I think not.
For now I know God has called me to this adventure we call home school.
So for my sake I am going to list 10 ways that God has blessed our home schooling and then go pray for some renewed energy and vitality in all I do
.
God has blessed us/me with...
1) a school room to school in.
2) the means to get our curriculum
3) me this year esspecially with a hubby who sees the need and has a desire to participate some in our schooling.
4) children who are close to us
5) children who are close to each other
6) friends to school once a week with
7) friendly neighbors who are possitive about our homeschooling
8) family that supports our home schooling choices
9) a church family that supports our home schooling choice.
10) a family unity that has an amazing relationship with Jesus.
Thanks for listening/reading my post today. I am humbled that anyone would care to do so. I hope that you are blessed by the Father in your homeschooling and can take the time to meditate on how God has truly blessed you.
Sep. 21, 2007 - What a great start to a new year!
We are now 2 weeks into our 8th year of homeschooling! WOW! I can hardly believe it has been that long since we started this wonderful life adventure.
Our curriculum line up this year is;
Math:
Epsilon by Math U See
Level B and C of Rightstart Mathematics
Typing Instructor for kids:
They are LOVING this and learning much
Brainbuilder:
Not loving as much but definately is helping with the ADHD, ADD, and short term memory issues.
Tapestry of Grace:
History Core readings
Literature
Literature Student Activity Pages
Hands on/Arts/Crafts
Church History (this has been esspecially interesting to me and my boys)
Geography
Writing
Language Arts
My oldest, boy of 12, has done nothing but tell me how much he is enjoying his History and Literature readings...imagine that...a boy enjoying history and literature...reading no less. It has been a wonderful first two weeks. As Tapestry lends itself to co-oping so well we are co-oping with another family this year. Next week we hit the Byzantine Empire and the Rise of Islam and then we get to hit our ancestors, the Vikings (the kids can hardly wait!). The best part is, we are all studying the same thing together at our own levels. I hope that next year I can join in the fun by doing the Retoric level myself!
I hope all of your weeks have had a wonderful start!
Thank you Lord for this wonderful opportunity to homeschool freely!
Jun. 18, 2007 - WOW!!! What a weekend!
We had our conference this weekend in WA. I worked a booth for Tapestry of Grace with a fellow TOGger and had a blast! We were very busy and only about a 40/60 to those who knew of Tapestry to those who had never heard of it. Several people returned the next day to ask more questions and to look more carefully through the sample provided. The days were long, my mouth dry but my heart soared to have such a wonderful opportunity to share Tapestry of Grace with others. If you have not had the opportunity to learn more about Tapestry of Grace please check out my link on the home page of my blog.
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend with Dad!
Mar. 21, 2007 - Thoughts of Spring
Spring is when the sun peeks out
and temps us all to play.
Spring is when the boys and girls
bring flowers and brighten mama's day.
Yesterday my children were bringing me the flowers from outside in to give to mama. It was so sweet and I love those little thoughts and chipper voices "I love you mama." They make such lovely memories. What a wonderful way God has in showing His love for us. However, I was busy checking my email when they brought them to me so I just laid them down on my desk and proceeded to forget all about the flowers.
How often does God try and show His love to me and I just say "Oh that's nice, dear" and lay it aside for what ever seems more important at the moment? I was saddened by this thought this morning when I had to throw the wilted presents away from my sweet, thoughtful children. I am so glad that the Father loves me still and never throws away my thoughts of praise or worship as they are just like those sweet, fragrant flowers that the children bring to us. Take some time today to just worship the Lord and tell Him how much you love him and remind yourself of His amazing love and grace for you!
Thank you, Father, for showing me a glimpse of your love. Show me more of your love for me as I continue to seek you. Help me to appreciate even the small things as you give me this fresh revelation of your love.
Amen.
Feb. 21, 2007 - Vision or Blidness
In Prov. 29:18 it says "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law." The Lexical aids say this for "unrestrained" "In Proverbs, the sense is to let something slip through the fingers by ignoring an opportunity. It probably means undisciplined in Prov. 28:18"
So then I had to ask myself "How many times have I missed an opportunity because the Lord led me to a particular curriculum or style of teaching for a certain child of mine and it just didn't "fit" the way I would do things? Because I couldn't see how it would help I didn't do it or get it? Therefore how much money have I ended up spending because of my own foolish ways?"
In the long run my spending was undisciplined in the area of curricula. I know I am not the only homeschool mom who has struggled with this. I know there are many others out there, for I have spoken to many of them.
I also like the way the Message Bible puts it..."If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed." This way of saying it can totally describe our school years before I sought the Lord on our Curricula choices, it was chaos. However since I have been asking and praying what we are to use (only the last two years have I actually followed His lead) we have been truly blessed as He has revealed those things. My 9 year old son who had previously cried and cried over the simplest of math concepts is now thriving and doing very well in math, because of the curricula the Lord led us to. God was patient with me. I didn't buy the first two years I felt prompted to. Then last year, when I wasn't planning to attend our convention, they showed up, so I went and looked at it. It was exactly what our end of year tester was suggesting for my son to do. Hum, what time and energy I could have saved if I had just followed the Lord in the beginning!
I hope that you will let the Lord guide your choices even when you are unsure as to whether or not you will be able to implement it. He will guide your teaching as well. I have learned I must place my complete trust in the Lord no matter how small the "thing" or matter seems to be. I must choose to listen and follow.
Luke 9:23 - 27 Says (Message Bible) "The he told them what they could expect for themselves: 'Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat - I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I;ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way (emphasis mine), to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?.'" Imagine if we follow His lead completely the "real you" in our children will be able to blossom and how much farther they will be in spite of us.
Jan. 31, 2007 - Pride goeth before a fall....
Okay, so I am going out on a limb here and telling the world (or at least it feels that way) that I truly DO NOT have it all together! Some reading my past blogs might think I have it all figured out or you might think that I think I have it all figured out. Well, not so my dear sisters, not so. I am far from having it all figured out. God just keeps pruning and pruning and then when I am thinking there isn't much more for him to prune he shows me another dead branch.
So what is this newly noticed dead branch, you ask? And how does one go about lobbing it off???? Got me on the second question, but the first I can easily answer. The new dead branch is one of distrust. I was raised in a home where the mind set exampled for me was "As a woman I must be strong and not depend on anyone for help. I must never show weakness. I am a woman and as much as it is okay for me to love a man I need not be dependant on one." Etc.
I first want to apologize to anyone who may have read previous posts on my bolg who thought "WOW! She is full of herself!" I never meant to sound prideful. I only wanted to share what God was showing me and doing in me. I am sorry.
Next, I would like to share more of what God is doing and how I am still trying to figure it all out. I try to write here once a month to keep my blog current and have come to this site more times this month not knowing what I was supposed to write. I had no words of encouragement or "wisdom" to offer. I now humbly come and say what has gone on in the past week.
God has shown me my distrusting heart, and that in this distrust I have feared his rejection as well as the rejection of others around me. I have not trusted that His love is unfailing but that, in many ways I have been striving to gain acceptance and love from Him. I still do not know what this trust looks like. I know that He is asking me to walk in the opposite spirit of this but I do not know what trust is. I was not trusted (even though I didn't really give reason to my mother to distrust me) as a kid or teenager. My siblings all gave reason. I was raised as I said above with not trusting others, especially those in leadership. I struggle trusting other women, people, even God.
I am in a trying season right now in which I MUST place my trust in God where the past could easily replay and it is not pleasant. But I hear Him calling to me to just trust Him in what He is doing. That He has it all worked out. I cannot see it. I am totally filled with anxiety over it. I do not want to go back to that situation in the past again. I felt left alone and abandoned by all around me, and by God.
So, I am following my own advice in previous posts, by coming against this attempt of the enemy to pull me into depression, self-pity, and the like. However I would greatly covet your prayers at this time that the Lord would give me a clear picture of what trusting Him looks like and that He would strengthen me to walk in it.
Thank you for letting me be real with you.
Blessings,
Patty T.
Dec. 13, 2006 - Got Joy???
Today my topic is Joy. I know that God has created us all to have His joy and when we walk in that joy there is a marked difference in our countenance. However, so many times we are either "happy", which is based on "happenings" or we are sad. Joy is present whether we are having a good time or not. It is not based on our circumstances. Then why, might you ask, does one struggle so much with walking in Joy when things around them are in chaos? The Lord answered that question for me in the last two weeks. I was wondering why I couldn't get His joy in me. And then it happened, God showed how I was being self - focused. When you focus on you then your circumstances are all you can see and it will steal His joy from you. I began to stop looking at my circumstances and started focusing on looking for opportunities to minister to others. I wanted my joy and I wanted to please the heart of my Heavenly Father. I make jewelry and sell it and I had an open house at my aunt's house. I was very nervous as this is the side of the family that I tend to be the butt of the joke.....often. I knew that the Lord wanted me to walk out my restoration so I did this show anyway. The week before I was very anxiety filled and sought the Lord about this. He reminded me that I was being self focused. I repented of that and then He also reminded me that I was looking into the future with eyes of rejection instead Jesus' eyes. I repented of that as well. I rebuked the enemy for trying to take my focus off of Jesus and rebuked that spirit of anxiety I had felt all week. Then I received God's gracious mercy and forgiveness and I choose to walk in His Joy. Then I prayed and asked God what the sale was really all about. He told me that it really wasn't about whether I sold anything or not but that I was to walk out my restoration and look for opportunities to minister to others. God is soooooo good! I choose Joy and He gave it to me. I choose to look for opportunities to minister and He gave those to me as well. Some were just in the form of serving with out being upset about the inconvenience of the timing. My aunt has a special needs son who is in his thirties and he came out about 40 min. before my open house was to start, and asked if I could help him wrap the gifts he had just come home with for his mom, because he didn't know how to do it. I did, with joy, not worrying about the fact that my stuff wasn't completely set up or priced yet. It was fun, we laughed together and I was okay with "not looking all together" when people started showing up. It was not an inconvenience because I was looking for ways to minister. I also was able to minister to another of my cousins who has just gone through a nasty divorce and her ex is not being very nice now to their daughter. She is hurting and I was able to share the love of Jesus with her and let her know that He wants to heal her hurting heart. It was awesome to see what God could do as I focused on Him and what He wanted me to do. Yesterday I went to the grocery store and as I got out of my car I decided to choose Joy. I wanted to allow the Joy of Jesus to overflow from me to others as I was there, even if I never "spoke" to them. I decided that who ever I made eye contact with I would smile with the Joy of Jesus and let it sink into them. It was fun to give away joy but also there were some sobering moments when I saw people look away as if they didn't deserve to receive joy. How it must break the Father's heart when we turn away His forgiveness and grace. Are you FULL of Joy? Have you turned away God's Joy because you didn't feel worthy to receive it? Have you turned away His forgiveness and grace in areas in your life because of "unworthiness"? If you struggle with forgiving yourself then you are not receiving God's forgiveness. Repent of that un-forgiveness toward yourself, rebuke the enemy for trying to use condemnation on you to keep you from receiving God's love, grace, and forgiveness, receive the forgiveness of God for you, and replace it all with joy!!! God's Joy is a gift for you to receive but you must walk it out to receive the fullness of it. Receiving and gift and opening a gift are two different things. A gift is of no value or use if it hasn't been opened. Open your gift of joy, walk in it. How many people can you make smile today with just a smile from you? Let Jesus put a bounce in your step and make others wonder and even ask you "What is so different about you?" and then seize your opportunity to minister to others and tell them what Jesus has done for you!
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the Law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1-2
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we [ I ] might become the righteousness of God" 2 Corinthians 5:21
"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10: 22 - 23
In Nehemiah 12: 43 is says "And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in
Father I pray a blessing to each and every person who reads this. That you would let these truths sink deep into their soul and take root and grow. I ask that you would water it with your word and bring a sparkle to each eye and a smile on each face that can not be removed. Thank you Lord for strengthening each woman, man and child that reads this and bringing them closer to knowing and experiencing your grace and love to a greater measure than ever before. In your son's name, Jesus, I pray, Amen.
Oct. 31, 2006 - What kind of homeschooler am I????
Mr. Potato Head You have your ideal of how things should look, but youre flexible enough to allow for change. You are not bothered by changing methods, mid-course if necessary. You use an eclectic combination of curriculum sources. Visit this blog: http://www.GuiltFreeHomeschooling.blogspot.com to take this test yourself...Its pretty funny.
Oct. 18, 2006 - Refreshing and New Courage
My husband and I have been taking a class at our church called "Jesus Ministry II", as sequil to "Jesus Ministry" (here I will refer to the class as JM2 for short hand reasons).
A lot of the class is the discecting of your heart. Seaking the Lord on your areas of offendability, as well as the levels of offendability in each of those areas. Now some may agree or disagree with me here, but I have come to believe and am convicted that I have no rights. No right of intitlements either. Jesus didn't even claim any rights, no right to be an authority on His own word (the scriptures), no right to live, no right to be understood. In fact if you look at His life He only claimed the right to be misunderstood. Then if I should be like Him I too only have the right to be misunderstood. Now, let me tell you, that when I am seeking Him it makes this unoffendability thing a little easier. However, when I am out of fellowship (in sin) with the Lord my "defenses" go up....way up.
Let me explain what defeses are. They are much like Octapus ink. An Octapus, when feeling threatened, will put out ink that will look to it's enemy like...an Octapus while the real octapus quickly excapes. It is very effective and will save the hide of the octapus in its life often. As humans, we too put out an octapus ink when feeling threatened. If you have read my other post, "Freedom...Do You Have It?", then you are aware of the four R's and praying that God would reveil and you would recognize strongholds in your life.
Let me use myself as an example. A deeply root stronghold in my life that the enemy would love to regain ground on and tries very hard to take back. This stronghold for me is a fear of abandonment and rejection. I am not totally free from it but am working "toward the goal to gain the prize", as Paul puts it. If someone I care about does something that might strike that fear of abandonment/rejection in me then I ink if I don't recognize the stronghold playing out. The enemy still goes after that one using different angles to gain control of that territory. My offendability level at what someone says or does should be waving a very big red flag with a sirien that I am passively or aggressively inking, and that I need to give that area over to the Lord.
Your "ink" (defenses) can be passive or aggressive. Here are some examples of passive ink;
Silence, Victimization/emotional maniputlation, Isolation/running, avoidance, body language, Others may have to wrk hard or wait a long time to renew intimacy after speaking into your life (this translates into "making others 'pay' a cost for speaking lovingly and gently into your life).
Aggressive ink might have some of these reactions;
Defensive Posture, blame/defelction (oh can I be guilty of this), retribution, comback/competition, cutting them off before they can finish, body language, denial, Obstinate until the speaker is deflated and defeated, anger Disqualifying the speaker from speaking into your life by pointing out his or her sin or weakness (this would be another of my ink).
Now, some of you might think, "Yeah, but not everyone should be able to speak into my life. If they are not spiritually where I am or not even a Christian then how would you explain that!" Okay, let me give you a biblical example. Have you read the story of King David in 2 Sam. 16 where he is running for his life from his own son Absalom who was rebleling and trying to seize David's throne? In verses 10 and 11 A rebel Named Shimei whose allegiance was with Absalom came out while King David was fleeing Jerusalem and began to taunt and curse David. One of David's own men pleaded with David to allow him to take of Shimei's head in the most literal sense. David's response was amazing;
But the king said, "What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, 'Curse David,' Who then shall say 'Why have you done so?' David said to abishai and to all his servants, "My own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord has bidden him." 2 Sam. 16:10-11 (NRSV)
"David believed it was possible that Shimei was a tool in God's hand...and he was willing to listen to what Shimei had to say, believing that even in the midst of the cursings God could speak through Shemei. [David was hungry and desparate to hear from God.] He was willing to receive what was said to him in case even a tiny bit of it was legitimate. What an incredibly humble posture! Imagine listening for something from the Lord, some word of correction, in the cursings of a rebel - on one of the owrst day of your life! While the enemy hurled curses, hoping to finalixe David's defeat, David pressed throught ot victory, believig that God was in control. he believed that God had something good for him even in what seemed like a disaster. The harder things were, the more desperate he was to hear from the Lord, in any form! His utter lack of defensiveness arose out of his confidence in God's love, mercy, and power." (taken from Jesus Ministry II manuel brackets are mine)
Are you ready to lay down your defesiveness? Are you ready to take humbleness to the next level? Do you make others "pay" a cost for speaking into your life? (this would include children when they ask you what the speed limit is and you know it is because they are wanting to see if you are following the law - yes I was guilty and yes I inked on my 11 year old son and had to repent later as he wasn't doing anything direspectful)
In our class on Sunday night, the intructor (one of our pastors) commented 'that to the extent that you are will to let others (esspecially your spouse) speak into your life with out you getting definsive and inking (getting offended) is the extent of your hunger and desire to let God speak into your life. Your relationship with your spouse will be a reflection of your relationship with God.....Oh how true this is.
I found this verse today and it explains exactly how I have felt since I have recognized my defenses.
The high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, the Holy One, says this: "I live
in that high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I
refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant hearts."
As I have been letting my husband speak into my life, no matter what, and not deflect or ink on him, he speaks to no cost of his own, I am the victor. I am the one who gains the prize. My blind spots are exposed and I can repent of my sins and gain refreshment and new courage, and my God's voice is more easily heard.
Sep. 25, 2006 - Special "BOB"
The other day my son piped up in the car after church..."Mom, who is 'special Bob'?"
I turned half way in my seat to kind of face my oldes son behind me and repeted "Special Bob?" "Yeah!" he quizzed, "who is special bob?" I then faced my husband, who was driving, and looked at him quite puzzled at my son's question. I tilted my head to one side and raised my eyebrows. My husband went to thinking and then asked our 11 year old son, "Do you mean Special Ed.?" With the light bulb above our son's head appearing as he replied "Oh, yeah, that's it! What does it mean?" I then caught on to what the boy was asking, and questioned "Where did you hear that?" I wanted to know what context he had heard it in so as to know what was really meant by the statement. Our son went on to explain the day our neighbor lady was talking about her cat who thinks it is a dog and will chase and meow after dogs 3 to 4 times it size, as if that would scare the dog. She then refered to it as being special Ed. I explained what she ment and what the Ed. in Special Ed. meant. I thought it was cute how he thought Ed. was someone's name. I got to thinking about it all and latter that day God asked me "Are you 'Special Bob'?" I replied, What Lord? What do you mean?" He hasn't answered me but, as I have pondered this question I have to say that I am not 'special Bob', however I am 'spcial Patty'. For the Lord knit me together in my mother's womb and I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am not an acident, or mistake or and ooopppss. I am God planned person, woman, who is special in God's eyes and I know that He loves me very much.
So, in conclusion, I ask you this question...
"Are you a 'Special Bob' or Nancy or Kyle or Taresa, or .....?"
Aug. 30, 2006 - Share with me a Day in your Homeschool life, Moms.
- Do you use a particular "style" of homeschooling?
- We use a classical line-up with a Charlotte Mason twist. We are pretty relaxed homeschoolers.
- How long have you been homeschooling?
- We have been homeschooling from scratch. We are entering our 8th year...WOW it doesn't feel like it has been that long!
- Why did you decide to homeschool?
- It wasn't my first choice, but the Lord knew we needed it. It has really helped me to not be so self-focused in life, first off. Our homeschooling choice was directed completely and totally by the Lord.
- How would you describe a typical homeschool day at your house?
- We live to learn. Sometimes we just get in the bare basics because the Lord really moved in our devotion/worship time and sometimes we get in a full day.
- Do you have a set schedule that you follow?
- I have read Managers of Thier Homes and even set up a schedule by it. I do this each year before school starts and before we start summer (as our schedule is different). I do not live by it religously, it is a guideline for us. It really helps me to see where we need more focus and where I may be wasting time. It also, I have heard, good to have a plan. However, although I plan I try to stay more opportunity focused.
- How do you stay organized and on track?
- I have color coded all the kids school supplies. Each child has a color and their pencils, scissors, ruler, pencil box, etc. is in that color or we use a sharpie marker to write their name or mark it some way in that color. This lets me know who left what out and those invisible children (I am sure they visit your house too... you know the ones "Idunno" and "Notme") do not visit too often. I also do 9 weeks of planning at a time (this way if we get off track it doesn't mess too much up in my system). I use color coded file folders or you could use a color coded lable. Each child has a hanging file folder with 9 color folders in it, one for each week. Then on Mondays they are to pull out any worksheets in there and their assignment sheets for the week and place each day's work into the slash pocket folders in their 3 ring binder. They know that when all the work in that pocket folder is complete and the assignment sheet too, they are free for the day.
- How much do you spend on homeschool supplies per year?
- On school supplies, only what we don't have left over from the year before. Probably around $25 - $30 for all four kids
- On currciulum, Well it took me the first four years to figure out my style as I just didn't have anyone to mentor me in this area. Now I have learned about each of my boys learning styles and found that some of what I was using worked for some of my boys and others need something different. This year I am thinking I will spend the most at $600 for the year. Next year I am thinking I should be back to my normal $200 - $300 with each year there after being less as I have found curriculum that is good for all my kids (Classical style unit study) and a math curriculum that is NOT consumable.
- Is your extended family supportive?
- Yes for the most part. I do not have any family that is constantly on me, however I do not have family that will help, out at the drop of a hat, when I need a helping hand either.
- What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
- It depends on their situation. If they are pulling children out of a school system (public or private) then Take it easy, Unschool for a while and learn to just live together.
- For everyone no matter the situation, Do NOT rush into ANY curriculum! PRAY, PRAY, PRAY! Seek the Lord, don't just ask Him, SEEK HIM, for a vision for your homeschool. What does He see your homeschool looking like? Remember that He will be strong in your areas of weakness, yes even in schooling your children. Learn together, and have LOTS of fun! Above all academics teach your children to Love the Lord with all their hearts, mind, soul and strength and teach them how to love to learn.
- What are your thoughts about socialization?
- This isn't one I think about much. I am a somewhat social person myself. I understand the need of the social homeschool kid out there. Personally my definition of socialization is "To teach my children how to relate to others of all ages and walks of life so that they can be an effective evangelistic tool in the hand of God."
- What are the top 3 homeschool supplies that you couldn't live without?
- 1. My bible. My quiet time with God sets my day. I am not naturally a morning person, but I have learned to be one so that I can start my day in the lap of my Daddy, my Heavenly Father. I have noticed that when I do this my day doesn't always run smoother, but my attitude does.
- 2. My Internet connection. There are soooooo many free resources out there!
- 3. My Magic Bullet Blender..."WHAT?" you say. YUP! My oldest boy has hit 11 and he can run that blend on his own therefore making a quick, healthy and simple snack (smoothy) on his own. AND he can drink a smoothy WHILE he is doing school work. No more interuptions every 10 min. with "Mom I'm hungry, what can I eat???"
- Do you have a favourite/favorite book about homeschooling?
- No but I do have a favorite website which has a TONE of articles for every homeschooler at everywalk of their homeschooling life.
- http://www.homeschooloasis.com/article_chart.htm
- Where do you go for support?
- Other than God? My Hubby. He is my biggest supporter and fan. Without him I do not think I would ever make it thru. I also have a couple of friends who homeschool or have homeschooled who can deal out a little insite now and again.
