• Dec. 7, 2009
A Lesson You Cannot Learn From A Book

Where there is no cross, there is no crown. This lesson cannot be learned from books, and men do not usually taste this sweetness. This rich life does not exist in a comfortable environment. If the spices are not refined to become oil, the fragrance of the perfume cannot flow forth; and if the grapes are not crushed in the vat, they will not become wine.

FROM A CHINESE CHRISTIAN

(0 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• Dec. 7, 2009
Monday's are for Gratitude

Gratitude brings us closer to the Father as our perspective is changed and we see that in even the smallest of details that HE is passionate about us!

So continuing on in my gratitude journal...

11.  A wonderful thanksgiving with family and friends!

12.  Waking up to snowfall (and especially sweet as that was the Christmas tree picking day!)

12.  Boys building snowmen

13.  Snowball fights

14.  Candy Canes

15.  A Hot Fire on a Cold Snowy Day

16.  Good Friends

17.  Winter Coats and Mittens that keep us warm

19.  The Warm Home Provided for us

20.  The Christmas Tree that helps us Celebrates the REASON for this SEASON!!

21.  Sweet, Sweet Girls:  Molly, Madelyn, and Caitlyn!

So as this new week begins, what are you thankful for?  Where can you find the tresures hidden in the mundane of life?  Join us at the Gratitude Community...A Holy Experience

May your Monday be Blessed beyond measure in all the Father has...

(0 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• Dec. 7, 2009
Fasting, not an if, but a WHEN

The idea of voluntary sacrifice is rare idea in our culture that is saturated with pleasure, instant gratification, and selfishness.  Fasting by definition is abstaining from food.  Many Christians think fasting is radical, however, Jesus said WHEN you fast (Matthew 6:16), not if you fast.  So if Jesus said WHEN we fast, why are we not fasting?  I believe most people don't understand it.  My lack of understanding has lead me on a path of learning and listening because I want to understand.  So these next few posts are going to be about what I have been learning about fasting.

Jesus has a burning desire for us, a firey passion.  The depth of His love comes through to me by His tender mercy, His gladness of having a relationship with me, His zealousness.  Until we fully understand our idendity in Christ, we won't understand our need to fast or even possess a desire to try it.  Fasting positions our hearts to encounter Jesus as the Bridegroom.  The purpose of fasting is to strengthen us in our quest to be preoccupied with God and His will.  We fast in in order to encounter God more intimately, more profoundly, to change the world! 

I read that and think, YES, YES, YES...I want that intimacy with my Abba daddy.  I long for Jesus, so I fast.  I want to fully embrace the discipline, the grace, the joy of fasting.  So I challenge you, will you choose a day or two each week to say "I could eat that, but I won't because in my weakness, Christ strong, Christ is revealed."  That is my hearts cry, deep, active intimacy with my DADDY.  I want to experience HIS heart. 

Abba, Father, draw me closer to your heart.  Give me the grace to fast and to hear your voice!

(0 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• Dec. 7, 2009
Gratitude

(0 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• Dec. 7, 2009
Something to ponder

John Adams said, "From all that I have read of history and government and human life and manners, I have drawn this conclusion: that the manners of women were the most infallible barometer to ascertain the degree of morality and virtue of a nation. The Jews, the Greeks, the Romans , the Swiss, the Dutch, all lost their public spirit and their republican forms of government when they lost the modesty and domestic virtues of their women."

Proverbs 14:1 "The wisest of women builds her house, a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands."

(0 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• Dec. 7, 2009
A New Plan

For many years I have dreamed of the years I spent in the mission field as a child. Often yearning to return with an intensity that I could not explain or understand. After all I only felt that way because of my memories as a child growing up...right? That is what everyone told me, I had begun to set aside that deep desire. The Father had given me the other dreams HE had placed deep in my heart to be a wife and a mother and I was seeing those come to fruition before my very eyes. But why, on quiet occasions or while reading missionary stories to my children, did I have to tamp down the strong urge to GO? Recently I came to understand that that desire was there for HIS purpose, it was a dream HE did place in my heart, one HE intended for us to pursue.

Some months back in the spring of this year Kendall came to me and said the Lord had shown him something. Not telling me what it was, he wanted the Father to show me separately. A laying out of fleece so to speak, like Gideon did in the Old Testament. Then one early morning as I was reading through the New Testament I read this:

(0 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• Aug. 20, 2009
I'm Back

Wow, it has been a long time since I have been here. Preparing a home to sell, moving, and then preparing the new home to live in takes much time and energy. Life is returning to normal, our homeschool curriculum is ordered...we are anxiously awaiting its arrival!!! Kendall and I have a surprise trip planned for the children to end our tiring, hectic, and exciting summer before we start school on the 7th of September. I am hoping to be back to blogging now that I have a place to put my computer and we are not rolling out of bed to remodel and unpack. God has been so good to us. He is such an amazing, loving father. Our summer's journey will be my next post. God told the Israelites when they crossed over the river Jordan to take a rock to commemorate what the LORD had done. I am going to write, so not to forget the love the father lavishes on us, so not to forget the Hand that so lovingly provided us a new home in which to grow and share his greatness...looking forward to the new year and many new memories!

(0 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• May. 8, 2009
Abba's Love for me

Do I know that... ...the Father knows my name? "I will go before you and level the exalted places...I will give you the...hords in secret places...I call you by name." Is 45:2-4 ...the Father keeps track of the the smallest details of my life? "Even the hairs of your head are numbered." Matt. 10:30 ...the Father collects my tears in a bottle? "You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?" Ps 58:6 ...the Father has inscribed me on the palm of His hand? "Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me." Is 49:16 ...the Father's heart is stirred and aroused with compassion for me? "The Father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him." Ps 103:13 ...the Father has a cord of love tethered to my heart and is gently drawing me closer? "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son...It was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws and I bend down to them and feed them." Hos 11:1, 3-4 Abba wants me, he desires a deep, abiding love relationship with me. He wants my heart. He says, "How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My father, and would not turn from following me." Jer 3:19 Do I understand His love for me? Do I understand His desire to hold me, sing over me, breath on me? His desire for me has nothing to do with my performance. But His sheer love and delight in me, His daughter. Praise God!! Father, come! Sing over me, hold me, breathe your breath of life over me until only you run out of me...only you Abba Father! "...He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zep 3:17

(0 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• May. 5, 2009
Mothering...a calling from the Father God

As I sat in the quiet of the morning, dry, weary, listening for the Lord to say just one word to me. For I knew that just one word from him would water the wilderness I was feeling in my spirit. I was parched and needing just sit in the river of the Father so that when my sweet children awoke they would find a mama who was refreshed and ready to mother. The Lord is faithful, always! He sat with me this morning and ministered in such a way so I could minister to my family. What He said was not profound revelation, but simply a reminder. A reminder that most mamas need every now and again. Mothering is a CALLING from the heart of our Abba Daddy. I am not "just" a mother, a domestic slave as our culture would trap us to believe. No, I was called, created for this very vocation from the foundation of the world. It is not just the fixing of the meals, keeping the children clothed, housekeeping and home managing. Mothering is a HOLY calling, one that rocks the foundations of the world, one that storms the gates of hell, one that brings the kingdom of God to the very present moment we are living in. What shows the love of God more profoundly than families that love and honor one another? Who, but a mother, can orchestrate that love and honor better by building her home with her hands; loving, serving, and helping her husband; mothering her children, the arrows in her husbands quiver; running her home efficiently and with care? These traits are what mothers are created with that effectively usher in God's kingdom and His amazing love to this world, a world that is so in need of a savior. Sometimes as mothers we just need a bit of holy perspective in the midst of mopping up dog hairs and muddy feet prints, cleaning bathrooms and making dinner. This job of mothering is not "just" some job, but a Holy, Godly, foundation building journey. Allow the Father to remind you just who HE created you to be. For we need not another earthly present for this mother's day, only a sweet word from the Father whose love for us and our families is so deep and wide that he called and chose us to be A MOTHER!!!

(0 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• Apr. 21, 2009
Who do you strive to please?

"For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ" ~ Apostle Paul, Galatians 1: 10 This begs the question to ponder, "Who do I strive to please?" So many times every decision and action I make throughout the day comes from the root of who will be pleased. Often it is not a conscious decision but one breed out of habit, the desire to be important to someone, worthy of something or someone. I believe that if I change the motive of my decisions, actions, words to how would Christ have me respond, it would radically change my life. Supernatural living because my flesh is crucified and Christ is living through me, loving through me. I want to be a bondservant of Christ, not a man pleaser. It is not man whose blood covers all my sin. NO, it is Christ who died for me, who took on all my nasty, ugly sin so that I could live intimately with HIM. So again, who do I strive to please? Oh Father that you would give me a heart that seeks hard after you, after pleasing you. That I would not be concerned with man's thoughts and desires and pleasures, but that you would be my only thought in each and every decision I make. It is the essence of supernatural living; the Holy Spirit indwelling in me.

(0 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• Apr. 15, 2009
Belief

God is not a belief to which you give your assent. God becomes a reality whom you know intimately, meet everyday, one whose strength becomes your strength, whose love, your love. Live this life of the presence of God long enough and when someone asks you, “Do you believe there is a God?” you may find yourself answering, “No, I do not believe there is a God. I know there is a God.” ~Ernest Boyer, Jr.

(0 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• Apr. 7, 2009
As the year ends...

I ran across this quote today: It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end. —Ursula K. Le Guin As we are quickly ending our "formal" school year, only 3 weeks left to go, I have been wondering about the journey we took this last year. It was not a good start, but it is ending as the best year yet! Praise the Lord!! We sometimes get so excited to be DONE, and yet the journey was amazing. We have all learned so much this year. My 9 year old who could barely read picture books back in August, just came in and told me he has finished Robin Hood. My 6 year old who was not reading at all, is now devouring the Magic Tree House Books, in one morning, I might add. And of course my oldest, who is 11, wants to read the originals, not the abridged versions any longer. So the question I ask myself is, just how was our journey? Oh we had more valleys than mountains this year, but in the end, the journey was magnificent for the simple reason that my children are loving to learn. They want to be done with math and grammar, what child doesn't, but they want to continue History and Science, we may just not stop!! They are learning to self-educate themselves, like Charlotte Mason talks about. And as mom and teacher, I could not be more happier!!

(1 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• Apr. 5, 2009
A Merry Heart, A Happy Home

Proverbs 17: 22 "A merry heard does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones." Our cheerful, merry heart determines much in regard to the way our day goes, how smoothly our home runs, how well our school proceeds. Waking up on the "wrong side of the bed" is reflected in our home and our family throughout the whole day. Have you ever heard that the mother/wife is the thermostat of the home? That is a big responsibility. Praise God that "we can do all things thru Christ who strengthens us" (Phil 4:13). He is the one that can change us, mold us, shape us when we go to Him daily and allow Him to gently remind us that it is all about Christ and the Kingdom. He has called us into this walk as wife, teacher, mom. He has promised us that he will give us all we need to fulfill this very calling. Let us rest in His arms as we go about our days, allowing His sweet presence and aroma to fill our spirits and our homes with love, peace, and joy!

(0 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• Apr. 3, 2009
New Crayons

With the love of coloring in our home, crayons often break while we are coloring... but the broken crayons can still be useful. Here's how we've turned potential trash to treasure by recycling the old crayons into new crayons...great for gifts as well! Here's how you do it: Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Separate broken crayons and sort by similar color Place crayons in a ziploc bag and, using wooden mallet or meat tenderizer, smash pieces into 1/2 inch or so sized pieces. A regular hammer will also work, but tends to smoosh crayons more. Put crayon pieces into foil cupcake holders so as not to ruin your pans. Silicone works well also and the molds you can find are many... but I would only recommend using them just for this project and not for food. Bake crayons for about 11 minutes. When the crayons look melted but the colors are still intact, take pans out of the oven. Do not stir them to keep the colors. Let the pan cool for at least one hour Remove foil liners from pans and let cool for at least 6 hours to overnight. If using molds, just leave overnight. Unmold the new crayons and start creating!!

(1 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)

• Apr. 2, 2009
I'm New

Hello! I'm new to the homeschool blogging world, but I'm excited to be here. I have been blogging at blogspot for a few months now. I don't talk much about homeschooling there, mostly about my walk with the Father as he refines me daily into a more accurate image of himself. You can find that blog at www.blessingmesweetly.blogspot.com. I am excited to share and learn here in this community of homeschooling. What a blessing and a comfort to know that there are many others walking a similar journey to my families. With that said...here we go!!! Welcome to my life as a homeschooling momma...

(1 Comments) (Post A Comment!) (Permanent Link)