Sep. 9, 2009 - Maintenance
If you live in an apartment you call the maintenance man when your garbage disposal stops working. The maintenance man visits your home regularly to replace the filter in your air handler. And the maintenance man is always checking your AC and heater to make sure they are running well. When you drive a car, somebody must check and change the oil, do regular tune-ups and check all kinds of levels and pressures. This is all maintenance. It’s done regularly. It keeps things running as well as they can. We even perform regular maintenance on our own bodies. We brush our teeth and hair. We take showers or baths to clean off the dirt. We see our doctor or dentist to screen for illnesses we cannot detect on our own. As homeschool moms we have other forms of maintenance that are just as important. We must maintain our homeschool program. We must maintain our relationships with our children and our husband. Most of all we must maintain our relationship with God. I believe these are more important than maintaining your home, car, or physical body.
Maintaining Our Relationship with God
In my house, we call them quiet times. These are times when you worship the Lord, read The Word, and pray. This needs to happen every day. The first and second commandments tell us to have no other god before Him and to worship Him only. The psalmist admonishes us to meditate on the Word. Certainly, what was true for David when he only had The Law is true for us today. Most of the apostolic writings talk about prayer. Jesus himself taught his disciples how to pray. Every one of these disciplines is important.
When we start by worshipping the Lord we are not only blessing Him, we are reminding ourselves who is The King. Worship draws us closer to God’s very heart. King David, a man after God’s own heart, wrote more of the Psalms, by far, than any other author. The Psalms are all about worship. Even the ones where he cries out to God for help, he worships God. Worship is an opportunity to open up our heart and bear it to a loving God who knows all that it contains. The act of bearing it to Him shows so much about us. When we are in the moment of truly worshipping God, we are doing exactly what we were meant to do. That is why we are here, to worship God. Just like any machine or medicine, which works best when it is doing what it is meant to do, we work best when we worship. We feel better. We look better. I wouldn’t be surprised if scientist could one day discover that when we worship the Father, our bodies function better. I personally have seen and experienced healing as a result of simple worship. Daily worship is a great start for your maintenance routine.
Reading The Word is indispensible for our maintenance routine. When we read The Word, we find out exactly what God has to say about … well … everything. When we read The Word repeatedly we actually begin to remember exactly what we have read in the past. When we continue reading The Word, year after year, we eventually realize that we have memorized scripture. Once we have memorized scripture we are able to mediate on it at any time, whether we have a Bible handy or not. This whole progression begins with daily reading. When we read through Psalm 119 and we find several instances where the writer is meditating on the Word, the Law, His precepts, and His promises. All are found in The Word of God. This is how we can learn as much as humanly possible about Jesus. God reveals Himself through the scriptures. By opening our Bible and focusing our entire mind on what we are reading, we allow Him to speak to us at a level not available otherwise. The Word of God is powerful, sharper than a two edged sword. We must never neglect it.
In Philippians 4:6, Paul tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” In James 5:16 we read, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Every book of the Bible contains something about prayer. Prayer is how we talk to God. Prayer is how we tell Jesus how thankful we are. Prayer is how we ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. This is a great opportunity to tell God about our joys and frustrations. We can pour out our hearts to the most sympathetic listener, who will never gossip about what we have said, and will often offer us answers in a way that we can handle them. Prayer is where we can put into practice some of the insights we gained while we were reading The Word or while we were worshipping God. Not only is praying suggested and commanded in the Bible, it’s a good idea. Daily prayer is even better.
When we daily put into practice these things we’ve discussed, we find that our walk with the Lord improves. We also find that our walk with other people improves.
Maintaining Our Relationship with our Husbands
Check back next week (9/16/09)
Maintaining Our Relationships with our Children
Check back a week later (9/23/09)
Maintaining Our Homeschool Program
We’ll wrap it up on (9/30/09)
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Mar. 29, 2009 - Why Go to Church
This is from Blanche and Tim......
Why Go To Church?
A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.."
This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals But I do know this.. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!" When you are DOWN to nothing... God is UP to something! Faith sees spiritual nourishment!
Hugs to Everyone!
Meredith
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Mar. 22, 2009 - Why Read the Bible?
Why Read the Bible?
The Bible is a very unique book, containing 66 smaller books, written by over 40 different authors. It contains, however, the common theme of God’s redemption of mankind: man sinned and rebelled against God; God sent His Son to ultimately die on a cross for the sins of mankind; and man must place genuine faith in Jesus, His Son, to obtain forgiveness and a right relationship with God, the Father.
Part of the uniqueness of the Bible is its claim to be inspired by God. It contains hundreds of prophecies, many of which have been miraculously fulfilled and some have yet to be fulfilled. No other religious book can make this claim, because they do not contain prophecies.
No other book has affected people, and, therefore, history like the Bible. Its message of hope and love has transformed millions over the centuries. Many, at times hundreds or thousands, witnessed the miracles contained in its pages. Its historical claims have been substantiated by archeology time and again. No other book ever written comes close to its beauty, its majesty, its world-wide impact, its relatability to present-day life, its life-changing stories, and its wisdom in comparison.
The Bible is truly a one-of-a kind book, potentially challenging and changing any reader into a different person. Why? Because the true Author, God Himself, created each of us to have a relationship with Him, and the Bible shows us how. Read it and you will never be the same!
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Nov. 18, 2008 - What is my Testimony? by a Homeschool Graduate!
My Daughter, Julianna, wrote this in answer to the question: "What is a testimony?" I thought that it would minister to other homeschooling moms, as we raise our children to serve the Lord!
“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life
is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son
of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:11-12)
Every person who has been redeemed by God, who has repented for their sins, and who has made Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior has a testimony. As 1 John 5:11-12 says, a testimony is the story of eternal life. Our personal testimony is how we individually have received eternal life.
I grew up in a Christian family and asked Jesus into my life when I was 3 years old. Growing up, I always thought that only people who had radical conversions had testimonies and that people who were saved when they were older had testimonies, but this verse says differently. It says that anyone who has been given eternal life has a testimony, because that is WHAT a testimony is: it is your story of eternal life. I know that I have eternal life and that when I die I will live forever with my Savior and God. The gospel, the way to eternal life, is powerful to affect and change lives. I have the Son, therefore I have life and I have the power to affect and change lives. Scripture is powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, the gospel is powerful and my story of receiving Life, “and that everlasting,” is powerful.
I have learned that even if I don’t have a “radical” testimony, that my testimony is still MY story of receiving Life and is therefore as powerful as anyone else’s testimony. I did ask Jesus into my heart at 3 years old, but it wasn’t until high school that I really began to have an individual relationship with God and truly made him my Lord, instead of only my Savior. I began, then, to start having regular quiet times (my personal time with the Lord) and began to have His heart for the lost and for the saved.
My story of becoming closer to God, of beginning to have a passion for His things and for His ways has been a powerful tool in my ministry. When discipling, my testimony is an encouragement to my disciplees, because they feel that if I struggled with something and with Gods help was able to move forward, then they can too. When witnessing, my testimony is an unobtrusive and non-pushy way to share the gospel. My testimony can make the gospel seem as it truly is: personal and alive, instead of dead and out-of-reach. My testimony, also, is an aid when I am reaching out to Christians that have never moved beyond the “pray the prayer” point. I can share, from personal experience, why it is so important to have a personal relationship with Christ and HOW to do it. Since that is what my testimony is.
My testimony is also powerful in my own life. When sharing it, writing it out, or remembering it, it reminds me of what God has done in my life: what he has rescued me from, what he has grown me in, and what I still need to grow in. It keeps the gospel always alive to me and constantly reminds me of the areas in my life that I still struggle with, therefore keeping me more humble (though that in itself is an area that I need to grow in). After sharing or writing out my testimony, I always feel invigorated, full of energy, and full of joy, as I am so thankful for everything God has done for me and am more resolved to submit everything to Him, to do with as he will.
My testimony is my story. It is my story of the power of God moving in and through my life and therefore it has power to, in turn, change other’s lives. My testimony is powerful when shared with other people and powerful, when thinking or telling it, to myself. It can affect others to give their lives to God and it affects me to give more of life to God, and therefore it is the most important tool, after scripture, which God has given to me.
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Nov. 11, 2008 - The Authority of Scripture!
The following is taken from A Wise Woman Builds Bible Study Workbook, lesson # 8. It is a workbook that I have written on leadership for women. As this issue is so critical right now, I offer this as a reminder that the Word of God is True! We can trust the Bible! Therefore, we should respect and obey it!
The Bible is the very Word of God. It is infallible and without error in its original Greek text. The books of Scripture were written by God. There are sixty-six books of the Bible and God used more than forty men from various walks of life to write them. The Holy Spirit came upon the authors and they wrote down the words God told them to write. These books were written over a period of fifteen hundred years. The books were written in three different languages: Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew. Yet, one theme pervades all of Scripture: God’s love for and redemption of mankind from sin. The Lord Jesus Christ is revealed in the Word of God from the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation. The Bible reveals His Person, His purpose and His plan.
The Bible is inspired, or “God-breathed.” The very breath of God was with the authors. The Bible is infallible, authentic and trustworthy. The original manuscripts were compiled supernaturally, without error. God controlled what was recorded and how the Scriptures were compiled. We can trust the Word of God for historical fact, geography, medicine, archeology, sociology, psychology, economics, government, and daily life. These disciplines are under the authority of God and His will is revealed in the Bible. We make the choice to obey or disobey God’s Word, but we will be held accountable. Wisdom dictates that we submit to the Scriptures. 
The Bible itself declares that it is the very Word of God. Over centuries, this has been proven true, as men and women’s lives have been transformed by the living and active Word of God. Jesus affirmed the validity of the Scriptures when He said that they revealed Him as the Messiah. With all the different writers, languages, and time periods, the Bible remains a unified piece of literature that does not contradict itself or its themes. Although we believe that it is the Very Word of God by faith, it is the most historically reliable ancient document available with the greatest number of surviving copies. It also contains prophetic words that have been fulfilled exactly as predicted. 
The books of the Bible have always been recognized as having Scriptural authority. Men did not meet together to pick and choose what would be called the Bible. All books of Scripture were immediately accepted as the Word of God. People did not wonder if the letter to the Galatians was Scripture. They recognized it as such immediately. Early church fathers cited passages in the New Testament as Scripture before the Council of Hippo in 419 where the canon was officially declared. Before this council, Constantine had fifty copies made of the New Testament. The New Testament was already in place. The council merely confirmed it to stop heretics who were trying to add books that were not part of the canon. Monks faithfully copied Scriptural manuscripts in monasteries until the invention of the printing press. Finally, the Bible could be printed and get into the hands of Christians. Luther translated the Bible into German and Tyndale into English. 
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Oct. 23, 2008 - A Birthday, A Cake Mix, & A Bag of Crab Legs
This is one of my favorite miracle memories. We all have times where God has intervened in a delightful way. Here is one of them from twenty years ago.
My niece was spending the summer with us and it was her birthday. The problem was that Mike was in seminary and we had NO money, not even money for extra food. We were living on hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and eggs for dinner. I really wanted her birthday to be special, but so far--nothing. I woke her up and told her that I wanted to bless her for her birthday but had no money to buy anything for her, even food for a special dinner.
"But God has lots of money," I told her "And He can give us a special birthday dinner." Katie Beth nodded her head--even at the age of two, she trusted the Lord.
Later that day, we went to a food pantry (kind of like Harvest International) where we paid two dollars for two bags of food. That was the only day ever (it never happened before or afterward) that they had cake mixes there. I chose a cake mix (her favorite flavor) from the "pick one" table and then a frosting can from another "pick two tables". God was soooooooooooo good!!!!!!!!!
An hour later my pastor's wife came by with a huge garbage bag size bag filled with crab legs. Guess what my niece's favorite food is? You guessed it! Crab legs!!!!!!!!!!!
God cares about birthdays.
"And God is able to do immeasurable more than all you ask or dare to imagine according to His glorious power that is at work within us." Eph 3:18.
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Oct. 21, 2008 - Meredith's Testimony!
I was sixteen--a good girl--or so I thought. No drinking. No smoking. Just a lot of pride and self-confidence.
One rainy evening, as I was driving home from a school track meet, I had a terrible car accident in which my dear friend died and I was horribly injured. In the days and weeks that followed, my life hung in the balance and it was thought that I would be confined to a wheelchair and never able to have children. My friend's parents reached out with the love, forgiveness and compassion of Jesus to me, visiting me daily and opening my eyes to God. Friends and family poured out love--some sang over me, some prayed over me. 
For the first time in my life I saw myself as a sinner who was responsible for a friend's death. I finally stopped seeing myself as "good" and started seeing myself as a sinner in need of forgiveness and help. I gave my heart and life, broken as it was, to Jesus in the ICU and was filled with dread for my life ahead.
Jesus forgave me and filled me with His Spirit/I have never been the same since. Months later, I was out of the wheelchair--walking again. Years later, I had further healing, enabling to have my first of five babies naturally with no medication. God is soooooooooo good!!!!
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Oct. 15, 2008 - The Essence of Femininity
God created people to reflect the Mighty, Majestic, Holy, Loving, Powerful GOD. People are like God. We have emotions, abilities, purpose, creativity and energy. Unlike God, we have not always existed, but like God, we will continue to live forever. God divided people into two sexes who reflect Him. In many things, men and women both equally reveal the essence and character of God. Yet, His divine nature is displayed in part through the ladies while other aspects are only manifested through the gentlemen.
The essence of femininity is to bring forth life and to nurture that life!i>
The essence of femininity is to bring forth life and to nurture that life. Our bodies are created for that very purpose and are the very essence of womanhood. We carry life within us for nine months and then have the joy of bringing a tiny person into the world. WOW! God lets us be like Him: the Life-Giver! What a beautiful image of God we are! Next our bodies produce milk that can sustain a newborn infant completely up to one year of life. Our bodies sustain life. WOW! God is the One who supplies every need and care for every creature. We reflect the Life-Sustainer!
Everywhere a woman goes, it is her nature to bring forth life. It is displayed in everything beautiful from ourselves, to our homes, to our offices, and even to the people around us. We want the people around us to be happy and enjoy life! People’s hearts, situations, and physical health matter greatly to us! Who is that like? Of course, we reflect the image of our loving, kind, life-bringing God. Jesus said in John 10:10 that He had come to bring abundant, joy-filled, happy LIFE!
For His Glory!
Meredith
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Oct. 15, 2008 - What is Orthodox Christianity?
Jesus is God. His Word, the Bible is true. We do not have to soft-pedal the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He is to be obeyed. Period. Many Christians have different viewpoints on things such as baptism, worship music style, or what names they give to church leadership. There is however a core of beliefs that define “Orthodox Christianity.” All that simply means is sticking to the Biblical viewpoints of the essentials of the faith. Here is a list of beliefs that Christians adhere to. Do not compromise on these truths.
1. There is only one God eternally existent in the triune Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
2. Jesus Christ is God, the only begotten Son of the Father, eternally co-existing with Him from and beyond eternity. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of the virgin Mary, was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again on the third day. He ascended in bodily form into Heaven where He awaits us, is seated at the right hand of the Father and is interceding for us.
3. That God created the world and all that is in it. He has ownership rights over all people.
4. All people have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death and eternity in hell.
5. Jesus Christ died on the cross as a substitute, receiving the punishment we deserve (propitiation). Forgiveness of sin (salvation) , new life (redemption) and a right relationship with God (justification) are all available to people because of the cross. These gifts are received by faith in Jesus Christ.
6. The Holy Spirit sets us apart (sanctification) to be holy and He fills us and empowers us to live godly lives and take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
7. There will be a resurrection of the dead and a day of judgment. All people will acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. Those who believe will experience eternal life with Jesus forever. Those who rejected Jesus will spend eternity in hell.
8. The Holy Bible is the only inspired and authoritative word of God.
The Bible speaks to all of life: the church, the family, the government, economics, history, and relationships.
For His Glory!
Meredith
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Jul. 13, 2008 - Joy in the Lord!
Joy is our birthright as Christians. When we came to Christ, received forgiveness, and began a new life in Him, His Spirit took residence in our hearts! One of the fruits of the Spirit is JOY!!!! We have so many reasons to rejoice! We were dead, but now we are ALIVE! We were lost, but now we have been FOUND! We were in bondage, but now we are FREE! We were enemies with God, but now we are HIS FRIENDS! What joy is ours! Nothing and no one can steal that joy. Only you can make the choice to toss it aside! Hold on to JOY! Walk in His Joy! Dance, sing, rejoice! His Joy is our strength!
For His Glory!
Meredith
