Nov. 11, 2009 - Wordless Wednesday
This old geranium belonged to my grandpa who is now in a nursing home. I could not bare to toss it out when we cleared out their place. I remember him being so proud of this spindly thing. He'd take me aside and show it to me when we'd visit. He'd remark how he only gave it rain water he collected. Somehow, I just need to keep this little plant going. It spent the summer outside. Now it is getting some sunshine from the inside.
~Jenn
Nov. 6, 2009 - Dulldroms, Already?
Your kids have had the flu for what seems like months now. Your routines lay shattered around you. Your heart is sinking with the mess all around you. Anyone relate? If you are not there, you will be at one point this winter. So what are we to do when those dulldroms come?
The greatest gift we posses as homeschoolers is our opportunity to change. We can change things up when school starts to get us down. Change the location where you do school. Change the books you are reading for awhile. Change your attitude!
Remember that quote from Charles Swindoll I posted the other day? Attitude is in our power to control. Are you going to see the negatives only? Or are you going to see what treasures you have laying all around you? It's up to us, Moms. We set the tone of our homes.
I delared this week to be "Serve Others Week" at our home. We made dinner for friends with a new baby. We babysat for friends. We visited our elderly grandparents in a nursing home. We wrote thank you notes to others who have been kind to us.
I tell you these things not to brag or make you feel bad about yourself. I tell them to you because I want you to be encouraged. The antedote to feeling blah is to serve others and to be thankful for all you have. It is really that simple. How that looks in your world will be different from how it looks in mine.
"You live more fully once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted."
~Ruth E. Renki
"Happiness is contagious. Be a carrier. "
~Robert Orben
"What the mind dwells on, expands."
~Norman Vincent Peale
I challenge you to find ways to shake things up next week in your studies if you are feeling blah, take a walk in the fall sunshine, rake leaves together, write letters to others, visit a shut-in, whatever that is for you, just do it!
~Jenn
Nov. 4, 2009 - (Almost) Wordless Wednesday
Trevor and his new belt.
I have to tell the story behind this picture. It was taken on Trevor's birthday last week. At the time he had a fever and could not go to karate, which was promotion night, of all nights! His coach, knowing how hard Trevor had worked for this new belt, made the effort to get Trevor his belt anyway, stopping by our house to give it to him. His coach said that it was Trevor's birthday afterall. I was amazed. To me, it could have waited another week, you know, teaching patience. But, now I see another lesson was taught, even more powerful: compassion!
Nov. 2, 2009 - Weekending
Good day to you. It was another whirlwind weekend. Thankfully, everyone was healthy enough to enjoy it. Trevor did not have a fever, but was pretty tired. I am hoping he can pace himself a little more this week. So far, no one else is sick, either, a major praise.
Here are some photos of our weekend, starting with a look at the cake I made for Trevor's actual birthday on Thursday, when he still had a fever.
And Ryan got this on Thursday as well...
Friday we stayed home from our church's harvest party to avoid one more exposure opportunity. 
We had a Meixican pitch-in dinner with friends on Saturday and then walked their neighborhood collecting candy. Here are all of our darlings.
Sunday, we celebrated Trevor's birthday with family. (Oreo Icecream Cake)
He was very excited!
Have a great week.
~Jenn
Saturday, October 31, 2009 - my brothers in Christ
Today I am wishing my brothers in Christ would be blessed by it.
I also need to pay attention to it and believe it.
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:30) Strength and honor are her clothing; she can laugh at the days to come. (Proverbs 31:25)
So note to self:
The joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh 8:10);
honor comes from God (1 Chr 29:12)
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. (Isaiah 52:2)
every thought, every thought (2 Cor 10:5)
Let God be true, and every man a liar. (Romans 3:4)
and if I may, a note to my brothers in Christ::
Please encourage your sisters in Christ by honoring these words about your sisters. Our desire is for you (Ge 3:16), and many of us dress to please our husband, but I have seen enough to know we are not encouraging a godliness in you. In privacy, that's awesome! but as a prize or flaunted to bring glory to yourself....consider your intentions.
Lord, help me to love the other gender more. There IS so much to love about men. Help me not be offended. Help men love women more.
Oct. 31, 2009 - Living Philippians 2:14
I challenge you to ask God to hold you accountable in the area of complaining. Not just in your speech, but in your emails and everything you type online. You will notice those around you complaining less, and you will also notice a change in your attitude. I promise.
In closing, the Message Bible puts it this way:
Oct. 30, 2009 - Attitude Check
"I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress... It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitude is right, there's no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me. "
~Charles Swindoll
So, how's your attitude today?
A couple days ago, my attitude was starting to sink into the dumps. I felt a lot like the cat in the above picture. The newness of our sick-routine had worn off. I was growing wearing of spraying, swabbing, washing, and praying. I was so sad that Trevor was sick for his big week. I was more than a little worried we would all soon be sick, too. I was mad that we'd not be able to do all the fun things we had planned for this week.
I had been praying about my bad attitude, when I decided to tell my husband, who as it turns out, knew all about my bad attitude of late. (Turns out I was not doing a good job of hiding it!) It took my husband reminding me of our many blessings to "snap" myself back into "the game." I am so thankful for him! I feel so silly now, thinking such discouraging thoughts.
"What the mind dwells on, expands."
~Norman Vincent Peale
All this to say, I want to encourage you today. If you find yourself getting discouraged or under the weight of heavy trials, please tell someone. Or better yet, ask them to pray with you. It just may lighten your burden a little and help you to find new strength to carry on.
Have a blessed weekend whatever your situation.
~Jenn
Philippians 4:11-13 (Amplified Bible)
11Not that I am implying that I was in any personal want, for I have learned how to be [a] content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am.
12I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want.
13I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who [b]infuses inner strength into me; I am [c]self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].
Oct. 29, 2009 - Happy 8th Birthday!
He's the life of the party. He's the apple of our eyes! He's the peacemaker. He's our funny boy who always makes us smile. He's louder than a locomotive. He's the most tender, thoughtful brother. He's smarter than most. He's all about things being in order. He's the one who is always first to pray for our meal. He's our $100,000 miracle baby. And now he is 8! 
He will always look like this to me though.
No matter that he looks like this now.
We love you, dear Trevor Jacob!
xoxoxo
Happy Birthday.
~Love,
Mommy, Daddy, Ryan, and Grace
Oct. 28, 2009 - Hudson Taylor's Answer to Anxiety
"The sweetest part, if on may speak of one part being sweeter than another , is the rest which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this; for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me , or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest position He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult His grace is sufficient. It little matters to my servant whether I send him to buy a few cash worth of things, or the most expensive articles. In either case he looks to me for the money and brings me his purchases. So, if God should place me in serious perplexity, must He not give me much guidance; in positions of great difficulty, much grace; in circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength? No fear that resources will prove unequal to the emergency! And His resources are mine, for He is mine, and is with me and dwells in me" (From the book : Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret)
Read through that again and really try to digest it. Oh how sweet it would be to come to the point in my own life where I am no longer anxious about anything because I realize that the Lord is able to carry out His will and HIS WILL IS MINE. That I could come to the place where I don't care where he places me or how, because His grace is sufficient. I need to think of it this way: I am His servant; I am on the King's errand today and He will supply for me whatever I need: grace, strength,guidance, any resource I need for whatever He brings into my day. He is mine and is with me and dwells in me.
I pray I will remember this as I go throughout my day! ... and you too!
Pam
Oct. 27, 2009 - Rule Number One: Remain Calm
It looks like despite constantly nagging my family to keep their fingers out of the holes on their faces and diligent usage of hand sanitizer when out and about, my youngest may have the flu. He's had a fever and cough for the last 2 days. Praise God he has no underlying medical conditions, so I am not going to panic. I am going to keep him hydrated and continue doing the things I was doing to help stop its spread.
My husband emailed this list to me a few weeks ago. I've seen other lists on other blogs, but thought perhaps it would serve as a good reminder to post this here. One thing I do not want to do is proliferate the already growing amount of panic as the TV news is making this their pet of the month. (oink,oink)
"Contact with the flu is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.
While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, can be practiced :"
1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).
2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to
eat, bathe or slap).
3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). The flu takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, > gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't > underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.
4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti >but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*
5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.
6.* Drink as much of warm liquids as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as
gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.
If you do get the flu, here is a very good link from theCDC.
So... with number 6 as my guide, I am off to make myself a little coffee! (Doctor's orders!) 
~Jenn
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