Jul. 8, 2008 - Sowing Habits and Reaping Character

"Sow a thought, reap an act; sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny." A quote often referenced by Charlotte Mason.

Gardening time once again. This summer it has been my goal to plant our first garden and also to work carefully to plant seeds of godly character within my children. During the year, lazy ways (better known as weeds) seem to creep back in as we get busy. I’m hoping to be more consistent in the future, but for now, we can give our undivided attention to planting the right seeds and cultivating the soil around our tender plants by practicing these “habits” while the school books are put away on the shelves and our schedule is lighter. As we weed the garden, I’m quickly reminded of how quickly weeds can grow and how strong they can quickly become if they are not rooted out when they are ever so tiny. As in the fertile soil outside, so in the fertile soil of my children’s hearts, I’m praying for a bountiful, godly harvest of character bringing glory to God! I must not forget to water their hearts with the Word of God daily and to let everything I do and say be seasoned with grace, only by Christ’s grace living in me and flowing through me!  “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not!” Galatians 6:9.

In the process of praying and searching for excellent material, the Lord has led me to some fantastic finds recently and over the years. I wanted to share them with you.

The first is a book called Laying Down the Rails: A Charlotte Mason Habits Handbook. I’m enjoying this one so much! It’s just what I needed to keep me on track and reminded of these things. You can find it here: http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/layingdowntherails/  It is a wonderful book about building character (habits) into your children’s lives (and yours!). They have a sample from the book that you can download and print out from a pdf file.

Other books that we are using and reading to the children:

A Child’s Book of Character Building, Book 1 by Ron and Rebekah Coriell (for younger kids)

A Hive of Busy Bees by Effie Williams and Others

Another Hive of Busy Bees by Effie Williams and Others

Hero Tales, Vol 1-4 by Dave and Neta Jackson

James Herriot's Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Tales by the Author of All Creatures Great and Small  by James Herriot

Lamplighter books http://www.lamplighterpublishing.com/

Rea Berg's Character Study at Beautiful Feet Books http://www.bfbooks.com/

More excellent websites to check out for character building books and supplies:

http://www.courtshipconnection.com/  Kathy Morrissey has a great selection of character books.

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/character_lapbook.php   Free Lapbooking materials!

http://sermononthemount.org/  Sermon on the Mount Ministry by Lew Sterrett. He teaches biblical truths while training horses. You will be amazed!

http://www.characterjournal.com/

http://lapbooklessons.ning.com/  Lapbooking materials for character traits

http://www.notebookingpages.com/  Free character and habit training cards

I pray these resources are an encouragement to you and your family!

Blessings,

Rachel

Apr. 29, 2008 - Tapestry of Grace

If you are looking for a curriculum to bring your family together, study from a solid Christian worldview, save you lots of time and money over the years of homeschooling (especially many children), then check this one out!  Use this link: http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/explore/ and then my Share & $ave code: TOGSPEAR. Thanks!! You can explore it online or even order a kit to be sent to you for free! They also have free downloads of three weeks of their exact curriculum for two separate time periods. You don't want to miss this wonderful curriculum!

Nov. 1, 2007 - Treasures of Darkness

Isaiah 45:3 I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.

Do you feel at times that you are surrounded by a cloud of darkness? Maybe it’s a time of sadness, grief or sorrow. Perhaps you are lonely or discouraged. I’ve been there. Recently. Yesterday as a matter of fact. As the Lord reminded me of His words, the light began to dawn in my heart and give me hope. So let me share with you what He has taught me during some of those seasons.

Be encouraged, you are not alone! God hears your prayer and has something for you. May it be His presence, His word, or both… there IS something for you. God says that darkness is the place where He dwells as His secret place and from there He utters His voice. So if today, your light seems like darkness, take some time to get alone with your Lord and listen for His voice. He may have something to speak to you which you can in turn share with others. You are not alone in your darkness. Draw near to God. He is there and His glorious presence awaits you! May the following scriptures encourage you:

1 Kings 8:11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD. 12Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

Psalm 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. 9He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. 10And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. 11He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. 12At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. 13The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. 14Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them….28For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

Psalm 97:1 The LORD reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad! 2 Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. 3 A fire goes before Him, And burns up His enemies round about.

Psalm 112:4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

 Micah 7:8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me.

Matthew 10:27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

May you find treasures of darkness and hidden riches in secret places today!

Oct. 15, 2007 - EVERY word

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

The Lord challenged me this week to think about this verse before I say a word and to obey it. Wow! I did not know how many things I say that aren’t “good for necessary edification” or that didn’t “impart grace to the hearers.” I always thought I obeyed the “no corrupt word” part because I didn’t say curse or slang words. I didn’t say cruel or hurtful things and I wasn’t sarcastic. I’m not a mocker or a scoffer. So I thought I was doing well in this area of my speech. But it’s a whole other thing to let EVERY word extend grace and encouragement to the person listening. It not only changes what you say, but how you say it. And sometimes you can’t say anything at all. I must think if what I’m about to say will build up or tear down. Will my words impart life or death? grace or condemnation? healing or wounding? comfort or pain?

From Psalm 19:14 I pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.” For one day I will give an account not only for every word I speak but for every IDLE word spoken. May I be thoughtful and careful about the words I use. May they bring life and health and reflect the heart of God who spoke the whole world into being.

Sep. 18, 2007 - He calls me by name

Sep. 18, 2007 - The Invitation

Matthew 11:28-29 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls."

We all know what a yoke is. We can picture two oxen side by side under a yoke, but what did Jesus mean when He said to take His yoke upon us? In the Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary we see several definitions for the word yoke, among them are these: 1. " a wooden bar or frame by which two draft animals (as oxen) are joined at the heads or necks for working together" 2. "a clamp or similar piece that embraces two parts to hold or unite them in position". I love that! I want to be joined to my Head, Christ, working together. To be embraced, united with Him! In the Wikipedia it says this of a yoke "However a head yoke is better [than a bow yoke] for teaching animals to stand quietly and avoid fighting because they cannot move their heads around freely." So under a yoke, I will need to learn to stand quitely and to stop striving and fighting against the Lord in order to be happy under this yoke. It is also impossible to be stiff-necked and rebellious under a yoke. That type of behavior just might get yourself killed!

In my spirit, I want to yield to Christ and to follow Him, but my flesh really, REALLY likes to do its own thing. When I woke up Saturday morning, I told myself that I would make a conscious effort to die to myself all day and let Christ live in me. (Gal. 2:20) Romans 6:11 says "Reckon yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." So, I started reckoning. I didn't know how soon after I prayed and got out of bed that the reckoning would begin, but I was only in the bathroom! I verbally told myself, "Rachel, you are dead!"... What I also didn't know was how many MORE times I would have to say that throughout the entire day. I came down to the kitchen for breakfast... more reckoning. When I wanted to raise my voice at my kids, or answer my husband unkindly, or be lazy and just not do what I needed to do.... "Rachel, you are dead." I had to CONTINUALLY stop and ask myself questions. How would Christ respond in this situation? What kind of an attitude would He have? Well, that one was easy. In Philippians 2 last week I was reminded that He was humble and though He was/is God, He took the form of a servant. He was obedient unto death... and even the death on a cross! Do I have this attitude in my heart? Do I willingly take the form of a servant? Am I obedient unto death? I'm learning, once again, that in order for me to be obedient, it does take a death. A death to my will, my way, my wants. I agree with John the Baptist, "I must decrease that He might increase." Paul's words in Romans 8:18 are encouraging. This time he's doing the reckoning. (He must be southern!) "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time (dying to ourselves is suffering, right?) are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Praise God, Glory is coming! Glory (Jesus) will be revealed in me as I live out this path of dying daily. I can confess together with Jesus His prayer, "Not my will, but Thine be done."

I am reminded that He who will lose his life shall find it, but He who will keep his life, in the end shall lose it. True happiness and joy is found in the path of dying to ourselves and living every minute for God. Now for me, that means I have to also obey some other scriptures to make this happen: Live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit (it's His work in me anyways!) Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. Rejoice always! Maybe you're not as prone to wander or be as selfish as me, but I have learned over the years that I can be pretty stiff-necked and rebellious at times, so much like the Israelites!, yet so decieved. I can disguise sin so well! Sometimes I don't even realize that I've gotten onto that slippery slope and one decision after another has led me to become less and less like Christ and more and more like Wretched Rachel (I wrote about that book a couple of weeks ago!). And then, I'm miserable. You cannot have true happiness, joy or peace when you are walking in sin. Never! Those wonderful things are a fruit of the Spirit. So how do we get back to experiencing the peace and joy of God when we have strayed so far away in our hearts? By the grace and mercy of God, we obey Acts 3:19 "So repent (change your mind and purpose); turn around and return [to God], that your sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing (of recovering from the effects of heat, of reviving with fresh air) may come from the presence of the Lord." Times of refreshing sounds really inviting to me. It sounds, well, refreshing!

Sep. 17, 2007 - Are you weary?

The Lord has been speaking to me this afternoon about not giving up. Some days I am so tired. My husband works long hours and he travels often out of state for days at a time. Some days we are just not on the same page. We have different agendas, different visions. We don't seem to be one. We also have a fairly large family. We have seven children. At one point it was six children under seven years old, no multiples, but there has been a five year space now before we had the seventh baby. Who by the way is sitting up, crawling backwards, and cut his first tooth today! Time goes by so quickly. I'm instructed in my heart by that still, small voice to make the most of every opportunity, to number my days, to apply my heart unto wisdom, redeem the time... these years and days go by so quickly. But let's be honest, it's hard, very hard work. And some days I'm just weary. And then the Lord reminds me of His word:

From Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.  9And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

How timely are His words. He always speaks a word in due season to encourage and strengthen a weary heart. He satisfies the weary soul... open wide your mouth, He says, and I will fill it. The joy of the Lord is your strength. In Psalm 16:11 we learn that in His presence is fullness of joy! I need to abide in His presence to receive that needed joy and strength. I need to fix my eyes on Him, the author and finisher of my faith. I also just read the Galatians scripture to say let us do good, especially unto them who are in my own household, not just the household of faith. Sometimes it's so much easier to have a servant's heart for others outside the home, the place where I can get glory, or at least just a smile and a thank you, to feel appreciated. How much harder to joyfully serve your family in love, behind closed doors, to the glory of God. Yet what God sees us do in secret, He will one day reward openly.

Today's devotion (9/17) in Amy Carmichael's Whispers of His Power quotes the scripture Mark 16:20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them. Then she later says this "What a glorious life is ours! Our Lord does not merely watch us work today, but He actually works with us." Does this word encourage you? I loved it!  It is God who works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Yet He says/ warns: Apart from ME you can do NOTHING! Let's not forget that one of our "jobs" is to abide in Him and He in us that we might bear much fruit... all to His glory!

Sep. 13, 2007 - Free to be Me!

Sep. 11, 2007 - Our friend Olivia

I wanted to ask you to be in prayer for our young friend Olivia King and her parents Dean and Barb. They have become precious to our family. We met them while living in the metro Atlanta area and our hearts were quickly knit together with theirs. Olivia has a rare form of Cystic Fibrosis which attacks her liver and she is in need of a second liver transplant. They are raising funds for that now. They need to raise around $185,000. Olivia has a website where you can learn all about her need and how to help. Here is her website: http://www.oliviagking.com/  Here is her mom's journal at CaringBridge http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/oliviaking There are several ways to help Olivia: attend the Benefit concert, purchase a book from the book signing, donate or purchase items at some of the area yard sales, take part in the charity toy exchange, send tax-deductible money for Olivia through Helping Hands Ministry (http://www.hhmin.org P.O. Box 337 Tullulah Falls, GA 30573  Ph. 706.754.6884 Be sure to specify The Olivia King Fund), or just give a love gift to her parents kingbkmp1@bellsouth.net . Once again, please be in prayer for this family. They spend many hours and days with doctors and in and out of the children's hospital. The pressure and strain on a family with a sick child is tremendous. Barb and Dean are in love with Jesus and each other. It's a wonderful testimony to the truth found in Ecclesiastes 4:12 "And though a man [or sickness, life trauma, tremendous trial] might prevail against him who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken."

Sep. 11, 2007 - Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space

Although I love Jeannie Fulbright's elementary science books, my children also love the ones by Stephanie Redmond. Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space is the latest and my children are thoroughly enjoying it. You can learn more about this book here: http://www.brightideaspress.com/CKEEarthSpace.htm . We are also listening to the Jonathan Park CD's http://www.jonathanpark.com/ and learning a tremendous amount about creation science from those. Yesterday's lesson was on caves and caverns and it went hand in hand with some of the J.P. stories. My older children add Lyrical Earth Science, Vol. 1 Geology to dig a little deeper while studying the Earth portion. See http://www.lyricallearning.com/vol4.html With these you have geological information sung to old tunes (which is educational and fun for the whole family!). There is also an accompanying LES workbook for the children to do further studies. Last year we used Lyrical Life Science, Vol. 3 while studying the Human Body. We added The Body Book to build the actual systems we were studying. This was a 12 week study to end the year with something fun.