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It's great to be back! It has been a while since my last post when my computer crashed:( Alot has changed at our house: Two of my kiddos have had birthdays: Dd is 9 (what happened to my baby?) and Ds#1 is now 6 (boo-hoo) Dd #2 is about to turn 2 on this Saturday although she has acted like she was 5 for the last 6 months and Ds#2 will be turning 4 in August. We are also so to say that we are excited about welcoming a baby girl to the family in July!!! Praise the Lord! The thought that God would choose to give us another child is truly a blessing. If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I would have had 5 children (we lost two by miscarriage) I would not have believed you. I had my agenda and it did not involve being a stay-at-home, homeschooling mommy. Oh thank God for his grace and mercy.!! Don't ask me how I will get it all done because I haven't figured that out with the 4 I already have. I've finally figured out that it's not so much about getting it all done as it is about being obedient to the Lord and doing my best with the time that I have. I can be my own worst enemy . The pregnancy is going great! The first trimester I had nausea, the 2nd it was great because I had energy and now it the final stretch I am dealing with fatigue. I get up some mornings with the lofty idea that I am going to organize the WHOLE house! I put on my apron and get to work pulling out everything only to find that by the end of the day fatigue kicks in and I have a bigger mess than what I started with. Why do I bite off more than I can chew? It must be the nesting bug or something. I have 2 months to get the house in order before Miss Lady shows up. I am not rushing the time away because there is much to be done. My hormones have been crazy. I am sensitive to everything. I know it's never an excuse to sin but that has been the hardest thing to deal with this pregnancy. Homeschooling has been a journey because this year I have two officially in school and two very energetic toddlers on the loose. I've tried the special box to be only taken out at school time but their attention span isn't very long. I am getting alot of practice in having patience. I am now reading through Managers of their Homes by Terri Maxwell. It's probably my third time reading it. I feel like I really need to get something in place before the baby comes. I have a schedule all written out but now the thing is to implement it. I feel like I need to de-clutter and organize before I can get started. Otherwise, their always seem to be things to be done that takes away from the schedule. I realize that if everything doesn't have a place and its a headache to keep up with it all then that's a good indication that I don't need some of this stuff right now and it could be blessing someone else. I will try to update my blog weekly as time permits. I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone. Have a great God blessed Day! |
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I have not been able to update my blog lately because my computer died. Now I have to go to the library in order to check emails or blogs. This is probably a good thing. I was starting to feel convicted about how much time that I was spending online. These were not bad things but not always God things! I felt that nudging, and because I'm slow to catch on sometimes my computer finally just died. This has given me time to get my priorities straight. I am looking to the Lord to show me how to fit in the things that He desires for me to do each day. As much as I love blogging and reading blogs, I probably won't have as much time for it now. Thanks so much for all the great encouragement from everyone. I'm sure I'll be back soon. Maybe I 'll just blog every few weeks with big updates! I never want to be outside of His will for my life. Blessings to you all! Veronica |
Posted in On the Home Front
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Update: My baby girl Israel smashed her toe on Saturday with a can while she was playing in the kitchen. My sweet baby's Big toe bruised pretty badly. Today her father and I took her to the doctor to get the clot drained. I had to leave the room because I couldn't stand seeing her in pain. I don't know if it was so much the needle that hurt or the fact that she wanted them to leave her alone! She is so funny. Whenever the nurses tried to talk to her she would just look at them, let them finish talking and then just scream!! I thank God for my dear friend Sandi(Titus2woman), because she watched my children while we went to the dr. I am so blessed to have great friends like her in my life.
In my last post I listed my goals. Well, I finally put my household notebook together. It is pretty rough because I had to write everything by hand because I don't have a printer. I will probably go to the library to print off some nicer pages and pretty pictures. I have started on my daily routine and I am making some progress. I combined alot of what I have gleaned from The FLYlady, Dandelion Seeds, Large Family Logistics and Organized Homes' sites. I used these as springboards for implementing a doable schedule for my family. I have a lot to get done but I will be working in small steps. The Clean Heart, Clean Home challenge starts July 2 and I am looking forward to this. I was reading somewhere yesterday about how the state of our homes says alot about us. This really got me to thinking. I live in a really small apartment so it is not easy to hide clutter. The more I de-clutter, the more I seem to collect and fill up the space again. Why can't I maintain this order that I so desperately need? I have things that I am saving for my children to grow into that I don't want to get rid of, but I don't really have storage space. What do you do? Am I not trusting God to provide for us when the needs arise? Don't get me wrong I try my best to bless people with our excess. God has given us more than I could ever imagine through wonderful friends and family. I am really going to work on scaling down in the clothes and toy areas. I want a home that is neat and orderly and is filled with the peace and presence of God. When my home is cluttered I find it hard to stay at peace. God is a God of Order. He has always had a plan, even I am a part of this plan Praise God! He has called me to be a keeper at home so the responsibility of maintaining it falls on me. It's not fair to look at my husband and expect him to fulfill his role and mine. The fact is that when people enter my home they are going to see how much I value my home and the privilege of being a keeper at home. My dh goes to work everyday and works hard for our family and I am very grateful. I want to bless him by giving him an orderly home filled with love, and peace and well-behaved children to come home to. Proverbs 31 says that the Virtuous woman doeth her husband good, that his heart safely trusts her and he is known in the gates. This is what I desire for my home. When I honor him (my dh), I am honoring Him. What an example that I can set for my children when they see me happy to be serving them. Galatians 6, talks about giving, I know it is talking about offerings but what I do for my family is my offering. It says that you should not give grudingly or out of neccesity but God loves a cheerful giver. So many times, I am sad to say that I have gone about my day without cheerfulness. What is even sadder is that you can't hide that attitude from your family because they know you. Praise the Lord that he has given my new eyes to look at my home and enjoy it!
Lately, I have been desiring to add real beauty to my home. I am starting with me! For so long I had fallen into the rut of just throwing on anything and not taking the extra time for the little things. I only dressed up for Church or to go out and run errands. God really began to deal with me about this.If I was working outside of the home I would dress up. Now my family is my career and they have to look at me all day everyday. So, I have started wearing dresses and adding a little make-up in the mornings. It is so much fun. I feel more feminine and it has improved my attitude. My husband has complimented me and I love that! My kids tell me that I look pretty. I don't know if I will wear dresses everyday but I will put forth more effort in my appearance. I want to be a good witness for the Lord. When I am working in my home or running errands, do I present Christ well? I am really showing that I am a joyful mother? Not just with the way that I dress but by my attitude with my children and others. Just some things for me to ponder. These are probably no brainer things to most women but for me it is fresh manna! Does anyone else want to join me? I truly do enjoy being a GIRL!!!!!!!
Blessings~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
Posted in On the Home Front
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Summer is here and so is the hot weather! Unfortunately I wasn't feeling well today but I did get an opportunity to just chill out with the kiddos:) I am so glad that I have taught them to do some things around the house like preparing a simple meal, tidying their room and helping with the littles. I laid on the couch most of the day with an upset stomach. Rell Jr., my prayer warrior, prayed for me and I feel 100% better today. Praise the Lord! Bri prepared meals for "the brothers", as she likes to call them. Ryan crawled all over me and would keep me awake by sticking his chubby little finger in my eye and shout, "wake-up mommy!" Israel just was here usual happy little self. I love my gifts from the Lord. I was able to prepare dinner. It makes me feel good to take care of my family. How I regret all the years that slipped by when I didn't have a clue. Ah well! it's water under the bridge now.
I'm planning on getting organized this summer. We will do school and take little breaks here and there. This is the perfect time to catch up on household maintenance, character training, Dr./Dentist Appts. etc. This is the month for my physical and although I need it, I'm not looking forward to it. I know that Doctor man will want to discuss my weight!! What's to discuss, me and my rolls are on a first name basis and I see them every morning:~) Seriously, I am trying to change my lifestyle because I want to set an example for my children. I need to be healthy in order to just perform my day to day duties. I need to lose about 40-50 lbs. I would like them to get lost and stay lost LoL! Fortunately, I am tall and big-boned(with alot of meat wrapped around them!) I can't seem to get past the six week mark. Things start off good, then seem to die down after the six week mark. All or nothing has been my pattern in the past. I'm exercising like a made woman or barely at all. I need to find a balance. Just yesterday my 5 yr. old told me that I am 'comfy'. I asked him to explain and he just said, "You are just so soft and comfortable". Remind me to teach him not to say this to his future wife. He meant it in the sweetest way though!
I am going to list my goals for the summer here becaue it will serve as an accountability type thing for me. So here I go:
Personal Quiet time with the Lord -daily ( Bible Reading, Meditating/Memorizing Scripture) Fasting and Prayer - (pick a day each week) Exercise - 30 min. 3xs a week Water - Drink at least 8-10 glasses daily Five a Day - 3 veggies, 2 fruits daily 3 healthy meals and 3 snacks ( just not all at the same time!) Multi-vitamin - daily Hubby - find a way to bless my honey daily (encouragement, help lighten his load) Kiddos - special time with each one daily
Kids Chore Training (Go over existing jobs, teach new skills) Character Training (Obedience, kindness, tattling, etc) Potty Training (Ryan) Outside Time daily Read Aloud Time - daily Have a date day/night with mom or dad
Homeschool Start Five in a Row with Bri & Rell Jr. Organize books and supplies Go school shopping Work on Math with Bri Work on Handwriting, Phonics with Rell Jr. Make activity bags/boxes for littles to use during school time Start a binder for each child
Home Declutter each room Start Clean Heart, Clean Home challenge (see Dandelion Seed's Blog) Make Household Notebook Prepare, post and implement a schedule Purchase totes or baskets and hangers for organization
This is a start and it is very liberating to write these things down. I usually have so much swirling around in my mind! Lists are very helpful to me but follow through is what I need help with. So let me pray: Father, help me to put my trust in You. Thank you that Your grace is sufficient for me. I can do all things through Christ that gives me strength. For Your strength is made perfect in my weaknesses. The joy of the Lord is my strength! Thank you that your Word say, be anxious for nothing but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving my requests can be made known unto You. You will give me the peace that passes all understanding if I keep my mind and heart on You! Thank you that I can come unto You when I am weary and heavy laden. For Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light. As the deer panteth for the water, my soul longs for You. You alone are my heart's desire, so I long to Worship You all the days of my life. I cannot accomplish anything without the help of the Holy Spirit. Help me get my priorities straight and do it with a cheerful attitude. I love you God!! In Jesus' name I pray, Amen! I'm looking forward to see how the Lord will lead me this summer. So until next time come on and bless the Lord with me, for He is good all the time! Can you tell I like saying this! Blessings to you! |
Posted in Gods Heart School
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Why is it that some things in life we have to learn the hard way? Now that I am a parent I see things from a whole different perspective. My two year old had a nasty fall on Friday night. He jumped off a step outside and fell face first onto the cement. Ryan has been told repeatedly not to do this and as his dad turned his head for a second this happened. I 'm praising God because nothing was broken but it left his nose scarred badly. If you ask him what happened he will point to his nose and then bend down and hit the ground and say something in jibberish about his nose! We are teaching him to obey and honor us and life has been providing plenty of practice.
This incident with him got me to thinking about our relationship with the Lord. How many times has he told me something and I didn't listen the first time? Maybe in the busyness of life I somehow missed His still small voice. Perhaps it was my making excuses or trying to justify my behavior that I ignored His promptings. Could it be that sometimes just like my two year old I just outright disobey Him? I thank God that because He is the ultimate Father, he doesn't allow me to get away with sin. I can run to His Word. Hebrews 4:12 says, For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. I thank God that His word washes me. He loves me enough to chasten me. Hebrews 12:6-11 says that He chastens me because he loves me, eventhough it doesn't seem pleasant at the time,it is for the purpose of yeilding the peaceble fruit of righteousness.1 John 1:9 assures me that if I confess my sin, He is faithful and just to forgive my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Thank you God for your Mercy, I don't want to have anything blocking me from entering into Your presence.
It has been a couple of days since Ryan's fall. As I look at my precious little boy with his little scraped up nose, I look past the scar and see those huge, deep brown eyes and a beautiful face. I am his mom and he is my son and nothing will ever change that or my deep love for him. I wish could have protected him from this pain but I couldn't because he made a choice. Needless to say he takes his time coming down the steps now. When I came to the Lord I was spiritually ugly, broken, used, abused, scarred and by the world's standards damaged goods but,God sees past the scars and sees what we are to become. He took me in, cleaned me off and calls me His beloved. I am a living testimony that God is in the Extreme Makeover business. It wasn't my outward appearance that needed the most help, it was my heart. I am truly a new creature in Christ. He does give beauty for ashes.
I am sure that Ryan will have plenty of bumps and bruises in life but I am so thankful for this opportunity to walk along side him (Deut.6) guiding him and pointing him to the Savior. I honor God tonight and my husband for being able to stay home with my treasures. Come on and Bless the Lord with me for He is good all the time. Blessings to you! |
Posted in Remnant Academy Homeschool
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Well, since my last post about telling of the Lord's goodness, I've been busy trying to get a school schedule in place. Although this will be my 4th official year of HSing, it will be my first year having 2 students. This will be fun! Rell Jr. will be in Kindergarten. He's already asking to "do school". This kid has a lot of questions. Whew!, I can't keep up. The things he comes up with are priceless. He's been having fun dictating stories for me to write down. The other day he told me that he has a SEQUEL to one of his stories ~LOL~. I love seeing him sitting there trying to figure out how things work. He is also my little prayer warrior. My mom calls all the time when she is not feeling well and asks him to pray for her. This is also my child that prays, "Dear God, please don't let us have string beans tonight". He really dislikes them. I'm looking forward to learniing with him this year.
Briana will be in third grade. She is my little helper. She's always asking, "can I help with anything?" Her passion these days is cooking. Maybe there is a future chef in the making. I honestly want her to have a better foundation than I did when she gets married and has a family of her own. I'm having to learn from scratch all the things that keeping a home requires. It's fun learning to care for and serve my family. My hearts gets all warm and fuzzy when I see my family enjoying a meal that I have prepared. My goal is to equip my kids with necessary life skills. I don't want them sitting around with friends 20 years from now sharing memories and saying "Boy, my mom could make a goood sandwich!" ~LOL~ Briana refers to the boys as "the brothers" and she does a good job keeping them straight. Her brothers think she's so smart. It's really precious to see them interact with each other. She doesn't play with dolls much because she would much rather dress-up and play with her sister, Israel. She also likes to go off and read. She's a strong reader. This summer we will brush up on her math skills because they aren't as strong. This will be a good year for her. Praise the Lord.
Ryan, the 2 year old, is USDA all boy! He could easily star in a video called "Toddlers gone wild" ROFLOL! Needless to say that we are walking the road of teaching him to obey cheerfully the first time. I believe this has to be established before anything else. We are also working on toilet training. Some days he wants to some days he doesn't. I'm convinced that this child could change his own diaper! He can go and get one and open it and lie down to be changed. When I change him he's always careful to say "thank you mommy". I know that he can go potty becaue I've seen him do it but when I ask if he needs to go potty, he always says NO SIR (too funny!). I won't rush him because I'm sure I won't be packing pull-ups in his suitcase when he leaves for college!!! This is the child that the Lord has given me to make sure that I keep an active and vibrant prayer life. My favorite thing to say is, "I loooooooooooove my RYAN!! He's my daily workout. He brings us a lot of joy!
Israel is a princess in the making. She's just starting to walk and she's busy. She loves to give hugs and kisses. When her and Ryan get together it's too funny. She has captured her daddy's heart. Israel loves music, she's never met a gospel song that she didn't like. We love to put on praise music and watch her dance. The other day I had on a long skirt and she grabbed on and began to dance and jump. It was the cutest thing! I love watching my children praise the Lord.
I would like to have a little more relaxed schedule this year. Up until now we have done a lot of workbook type curriculum. I am leaning heavily towards the CM/Classical type of education for my children. We will use this summer to do lots of reading and filling in gaps. In the past we've done most of our schoolwork during naptime for the littles. I'm thinking of changing to mornings though, but have to figure out how to incorporate my 2 and 1 year old. They are pretty busy now, especially since Israel is walking now. My main goal is teaching them to obey but also making time for snuggling. Character training and teaching them to love the Lord is very important to us. I'm sure this schedule will fall into place. I have enjoyed reading other blogs about organization and planning. I've been gleaning and seeking Him to find what works for our family. God help us to do your will in training up a Godly seed (Malachi 2:15). Amen
Blessings to you today! Veronica
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I am so thankful for all of the many blessings that the Lord has given me. Just like the title of my blog, I truly try to go throughout my day blessing his Name. It is so easy to get caught up with the cares of this world and forget to keep my eyes upon the Lord. Lately, I have taken small things for granted. See, Dh and I don't have a lot of support from family in our decision to home educate and the way we raise our children in general. I thank God for 3 very precious homeschooling friends of mine that are always encouraging me. My friend Sandi and J are especially a blessing to me. They tell me to relax, and they also tell me when I have had too much WHINE!~LOL~ For most of the time that I have been home teaching, although I know this is what God has ordained for our family, I have felt like I need to meet up to other's standards. I feel like sometimes people are waiting for us to fail, especially when they say that to your face. But you know something,God is awesome and He has such a way of speaking so clearly to our hearts and giving us confirmations.
I attended our state home school convention this past weekend and I was truly blessed. I was encouraged to see so much diversity there, truly a reflection of what Heaven will be like. It really lifted my spirits to see every race and ethnicity represented (in case you're wondering I am an African-American woman of God :)) I love people. The greatest blessing to me was to attend the sessions and hear the hearts of people who have traveled this road before me and have come out on the other side, their children grew up just fine and they still have their hair! One speaker in particular just stuck with me. He made the point that homeschooling is about so much more than academics but about the relationships that are building with our dear children. More importantly, the Godly seed that God is raising up, what a great testimony. Praise the Lord, that I get to be a part of His plan. He also went on to say that we are invited on this journey by Him. He chose us as parents to be the teachers and nurturers of our children. He created them and know what they need. Our trust and confidence lies in Him and not which curriculum to buy! He said that fruit that is produced through fear end always bears bitter fruit. This was revelation to me. I knew and pondered many things in my heart, but I was stressing about not being able to buy the curriculum that I thought my children needed. There are so many choices out there and it can be overwhelming. I had become anxious eventhough God tells me not to in His Word (Philippians 4:6-7). Lord forgive me for taking my eyes off of you! Every year I make a wish list and God always provides more than I could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Most of the time what I think I want is not what I need. We get by on a very modest salary that doesn't leave a lot of room for extras. God has moved on the hearts of people to bless us with so many things that it is truly amazing. My bookshelves are full and overflowing. To God be the Glory!
One quick testimony before I close. When I went to the convention I had less than $5.00 in my pocket. I was there mostly for the sessions knowing that I had to wait on the Lord to provide for our upcoming year. They had a used curriculum sale, so in between sessions I went in and looked around. I saw so many things I wanted but I told the Lord that I knew He would give us what we needed and I thanked Him just for the opportunity to be there. Well I went into the sale for a second time to look around and I came out with blessings. I needed a math curriculum, I found an older version of Bob Jones math with the TM for $2.00, a christian Science book for $1.00, and an Abeka cursive writing book for .25 all in good condition. I told you God is good! That just about completes my list, all I need now is FIAR Volume 1. Someone had given me a language arts, spelling (for DD going into 3rd grade and K math book and Hooked on Phonics for my DS. As I was waiting for my husband and children to pick me up, I had a prompting to walk back toward the Exibit Hall. On a table marked "Free" there was a Kindergarten Unit Study Notebook laying there with a post it note that said, "This was a wonderful curriculum, I hope you enjoy it a much as I did!" Do you know that I wanted to cry and jump right there! I did offer up a praise with my heart! I get so excited like a little girl, at the thought of how much my DADDY loves and cares for me. Okay I'll share Him with you. LOL
Tonight I am so thankful to the One who sits on the Throne in Heaven and in my heart. I sat and played with my children individually tonight and I thought of how I am so blessed to have them and my dear husband in my life. No matter how tough thing get sometimes I can rest in the fact that He is in control and He has a plan(Jeremiah 29:11). Until next time, Come on and Bless the Lord with me for He is good all the time. |
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Hello eveyone out there in bloggerville. I am new here to HSB but I have enjoyed reading a lot of the other blogs here. I was thinking maybe I could start a blog too. I am married to a great guy and we have 4 beautiful children so far. Our children are are Bri-Bri (8), Rell Jr.(5), Ryan(a.k.a. "Rabbit",2) and baby girl Israel(a.k.a. Bump-Bump,1). As you can see we have a busy household. We are just finishing up our 3rd year of homeschooling. What an amazing journey! I feel like I'm the one that in God's Homeschool, the kids are learning in spite of me.
If some one had asked me if I would could ever imagine being married with 4 children, staying home and teaching them, I would have probably laughed uncontrollably! One of my favorite things to say to my husband when we got married was " you didn't marry Suzy homemaker". Does God have a sense of humor or what? Then when my husband brought up the idea of homeschooling, to this I said "Maybe you're not hearing from God clearly" LOL! You must understand that when I got married, that's all I did. I didn't know the first thing about being a wife, being a mom, being submissive or anything about what God had in mind. All I can say is that God has changed my heart and turned it toward my home. I desire to become the best help meet and mommy that I can possibly be!. I hope you will come and visit me here again. Now come on and Bless God With ME for He is good all the time! |