Grandma's Apron

Gathering of the Saints.... sweet fellowship

The following examples show that the gathering of saints is for encouragement:

Hebrews 3:12-14 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.

1 Thessalonians 5:11-15 Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another. We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.

Fingerprints for THE CHURCH: Acts 2:42- They were

• continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching
• and to fellowship
• to the breaking of bread
• and to prayer

Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

The following scripture expresses evangelism: Mark 16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."

Basic Outline Of Actual Discipline

I have been reading Withhold Not Correction. The last time I read it was about 18 years ago.

The author lays out specifics on the actual way to discipline, very similar to the Lindvall article/audio we have in the articles area at cmomb's forum, but then he gave a brief outline, which I thought helpful and easy to remember:

These are the basic questions to be asked of the child to use this as a training moment.

What did you do? (specifically)

What does God say about this?

Was what you did right or wrong according to the Scriptures?

What happens when you disobey?

What must I do as a parent under God's authority?

What ought you to do in the future?

We will, of course, have to adjust the details of such a discussion to suit the different ages and circumstances of our children, but the thrust of what we must say must be the same whether we are dealing with a child of fourteen months or fourteen years. Little children and big children, even grown children, must hear words that tell them why they are being disciplined by their parents, or by the Lord.

Christian Internet Code of Ethics

Christian Internet Code of Ethics As a Christian who is active on the internet, I hold myself to certain standards of conduct. They are: I guard my online relationships I am careful to visit websites that do not compromise my life in Christ I take care that my written communications reflect Christ in my life I guard my time to assure that my time online is kept in proper balance with the rest of my life For more information visit the Christian Internet Code of Ethics home page.

Another Response about Jesus is Lord over all

The following was posted as a comment to this blog post.

"David was talking to Anne not to long ago and she was saying how sorry she felt for us ONLY having 2 children. Dave said he was not. That God chose the size of our family. She said [that] he did, but she still felt sorry for us.

My question is, do you feel that you are putting so much heart into having such a LARGE family that your children will feel they must also?

Sometime the Lord does not chose for you to have loads of children.

We have given ourselves to the Lord in this area and we still have 2 children.

I would hate to see children grow up thing that if they gave them self to the Lord in all areas, he will give them many blessings including lots of children.

When I was a teen I wanted 17 children LOL. But, the Lord knows what I need to have. I may want more, but he is my Lord. My will needs to be his will.

I guess I am asking because I was a little hurt to hear someone say this about us. She does not understand what a full family we truly have."

It appears you might have missed my blog post here.

I'm not sure how feeling sorry for you is a bad thing.  Both Dennis and I have come from "small" families and have experienced a "large" family. We see what a joy these blessings are. They are a joy and blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them! (not my words, God's) Ps. 127:5 I thought you were hoping to adopt? That tells me you do desire more.

I recently heard someone say they are the only thing you can take to heaven with you.  They are, indeed, eternal blessings.

We have not told our children they are promised many children. That is not the emphasis we have taught.

I said, "Be diligent with discipline and you will see the fruits of your labors as the quiver increases....*if* God chooses to increase it" (emphasis mine)

I also said, "What I believe is most important, and we should each be asking ourselves often, is my life given over to serving and honoring, and glorifying my Savior in all I do? Have I given every part of me to Him in complete sacrifice, not partial, because He is worthy of it all? It may not be in regards to having as many blessings as He chooses: It may be in regard to any area of my life. I could just as easily ask, "Have I given my eating habits to God?" "Have I given my children to God?" "Have I given my marriage to God?" "Do I spend my time wisely to things that glorify God and work towards leading others to the Kingdom?" "Are my thoughts His thoughts" Once our hearts and minds are intent on pleasing our Lord, everything else will fall into place....if we let it. Our habits become His habits. Our children and marriage become His children and His marriage. Our time becomes His time. Our body becomes His body. Remember, we have been bought with a price. We already proved in the Garden of Eden that we cannot do things in our own power. We have none. Ecclesiastes 2:11 - Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun."

More on Jesus is Lord of all, including the womb...

These are some thoughts I have written previously in different places, all wrapped into one post. I have no intention of arguing, but wanted to reply to a commenter on my last post. The following doesn't just cover her question, but also covers other thoughts, as well.

The term, "quiverful" is not in scripture. I had never heard anyone call themselves this until I hit the internet. I had read the book, A Full Quiver, but never thought of the term before. The quiver that God refers to in His Holy Scriptures when it talks about, "Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." The quiver spoken of here is a warriors. Warriors' quivers usually held about 80 arrows, versus a hunting quiver, which held about 5. Can any of us say we are "quiverful"?

Whether one is qf or not qf, whatever the interpretation of that is, it is not a salvation issue, so we cannot and should not ever judge another person's closeness to God by how many children they have or don't have. When one is "qf", that it simply means to give that area of your life over to Christ. Soooo, if we can trust God with that, surely we can take comfort knowing that He is in control of situations we don't understand.

Psalm 127:1 - Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. I wonder if Eve thought she was using common sense in the Garden of Eden. It dawned on me a couple years ago, perhaps I am naive to think that everyone thinks the same way. ~grin~ I'm sure we all do have slightly different perspectives on the subject. I do have a great concern for someone taking fertility treatments, as much as I do for someone using most of the birth control methods on the market. I see that they are invasive in a marriage, can be idols (all consuming), costly, and not natural (ie not healthy).

What I believe is most important, and we should each be asking ourselves often, is my life given over to serving and honoring, and glorifying my Savior in all I do? Have I given every part of me to Him in complete sacrifice, not partial, because He is worthy of it all? It may not be in regards to having as many blessings as He chooses: It may be in regard to any area of my life. I could just as easily ask, "Have I given my eating habits to God?" "Have I given my children to God?" "Have I given my marriage to God?" "Do I spend my time wisely to things that glorify God and work towards leading others to the Kingdom?" "Are my thoughts His thoughts" Once our hearts and minds are intent on pleasing our Lord, everything else will fall into place....if we let it. Our habits become His habits. Our children and marriage become His children and His marriage. Our time becomes His time. Our body becomes His body. Remember, we have been bought with a price. We already proved in the Garden of Eden that we cannot do things in our own power. We have none. Ecclesiastes 2:11 - Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.

God is not all about life here on Earth. 1 Corinthians 6:20 - For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. God is all about *obedience*. 1 Sam. 15:22b Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. If you believe (have confidence in, place your reliance upon), then you'll show it. I am not necessarily talking about bc. I am talking about all areas of our lives.

Because we live in a fallen world, we cannot always anticipate the ideal. If we lived in a perfect world, we wouldn't have problems come up wherein medical intervention is necessary. For example: If a woman is bleeding to death and needs a hysterectomy, then it's obvious she needs a hysterectomy.

What I find more concerning is that people are making choices to have, for example, more stuff, instead of children. I know that sounds extreme, but I have seen it for myself all too many times.

What's more important is their relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, I never judge someone by the number of children they have. What if God has chosen not to give them any? What if they have made a decision previous? I am talking more about where their heart is...where their treasure is.

I certainly do not claim all knowing and am willing to learn. Ultimately, a husband should make the final decision and a wife should submit, but then... that's a whole other topic, eh?

Here is a link to an article by Doug Wilson, used with permission at  http://www.cmomb.com/so-what-about-birth-control/

Either God was Lord of all, or He isn't Lord at all

My husband grew up in church and even attended a Christian school. Eventually, he was kicked out. He observed a lot of hypocrisy, including in his own home. All this kept him away from wanting to be a Christian. When he finally took his eyes off of man and onto Jesus, he realized he didn't have to be like them. Consequently, when he surrendered his life to God, he told Him, "God, it's either all of me or none of me, because I don't want to be like them." I surrendered to the Lord 2 days later.

We went off to Bible school on the Oregon Coast (Ecola Hall in the Cannon Beach Conference facility). I *just* had our second baby and went back to the doctor for my 6 week checkup, wherein I received my packet of birth control pills. At the same time, one of the speakers there (Paul Hunter) mentioned, offhandedly, about letting God choose the size of your family and if one wanted to know more, to see him afterwards. Well, us being new believers, and wanting to check everything out to be sure we were following God's will, my husband inquired. Mr. Hunter told my husband that if he was interested in reading on the subject, to pick up THE WAY HOME by Mary Pride. Fortunately, we received a discount at the bookstore, so he ran over to buy it. My husband read it first, devouring every word and checking God's word out to see if what he was reading really was true.

My husband is an avid reader, so he also picked up my pill packet insert. This thing is 6 inches wide and 2 columns, and 22 inches long, double-sided, fine print. UGH! I have it here in my hands as I type this. What caught his attention was this statement, "The second type of oral contraceptive, often called the "mini-pill" contains only a progestogen. It works in part by preventing release of an egg from the ovary but also by keeping sperm from reaching the egg and by making the uterus (womb) less receptive to any fertilized egg that reaches it."

Whew! The Lord was really hitting us hard from all sides....and not just on this one issue, either!

I telephoned my doctor and spoke to another doctor in her practice. I asked him if this was abortion. He hemmed and hawed and said, "well, it depends on your world view and morals." I asked again, "does this cause a fertilized egg to be aborted?" He said, "Yes." That was enough for us. We tossed that packet of pills and never looked back!

We came to the conclusion that either God was Lord of all, or He couldn't be Lord at all.

I remember saying, "Honey, they talk about birth control pills all the time on Focus on The Family! Someone needs to tell them this information! They must not know!" We wrote them a letter and received back a very sad reply, which I won't go into now.

That's the long story. As you can see, God was bringing different things into our lives, including the idea that children are a blessing, a reward, a heritage.

Will I Ever Stop Having Babies?

There was a time when I felt overwhelmed by all the babies!  I had 5 babies/toddlers and life seemed so tense! There was disciplining, sicknesses, feeding everyone, gardening, disciplining, canning, cleaning, laundry, dishes, homeschooling the eldest, and more discipling! My head was spinning, as I was just trying to find time to take a shower and/or read my Bible and give my husband the attention he needed.

It was about this time that the Lord gave us twins! I remember saying, "Lord, I am VERY contented with 7, thank You very much! If you chose to close my womb now, I'd be contented, indeed." A short time after, the Lord gave us Maddy, a stillborn at 20 weeks. All of a sudden, we were in shock! We had taken our fertility for granted, because things always seemed to go so well. Then, after Maddy, there was Michael, a miscarriage at 16 weeks. We didn't want anymore! We didn't want the pain that came with the losses!

Well, after some time had passed, God did bless us with another. She is 4 years apart from the twins. Oh how God is good in His sovereignty! See, we had lost focus because we let the business, the stresses, the here and now get in the way of our view...the bigger picture. It's easy to do this when toddlers are pulling and tugging at you every which way. It's always time to nurse and grocery shopping is a nightmare!

Be diligent with discipline and you will see the fruits of your labors as the quiver increases....*if* God chooses to increase it, and lastly, don't take your fertility for granted. Love each of those sweeties...take time to read to them and play with them, and enjoy them. Not everyone is able to have a precious baby. God knows what's best for YOU.