Jul. 25, 2009 - a note on perseverance

"If creativity is an artist's gem,

 then perseverance is an artist's combat uniform".

 
This is from a post that John Moore wrote on writing  Although the post is focused on writing, I felt that this is a timely quote for a couple of young ladies in our household on their creative endeavors. 

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Jul. 23, 2009 - Christian Families at the Crossroads

Last weekend we were blessed to be able to attend our second Christian Families at the Crossroads conference. Our family took the 12 hour drive to Georgia back in February for the first one so when we found out that there would be another conference in Ohio and so much closer to our home we decided to go again.  Geoff and Victoria Botkin and their seven children all spoke about the challenges and triumphs of the Christian life. 


Friday evening they had a special surprise for us.  Having just been at the Reformation 500 the weekend before Anna Sofia & Elizabeth Botkin along with several other "friends from history" donned their reenactor's dress and told us their stories.  While each reenactor encouraged us with their stories, Elizabeth's character, Anne Boleyn, had us spellbound.  It was very touching and I realized I didn't know as much about her as I should.  Which really makes me want to study more about the lives of the reformers throughout history.  You can go to Visionary Daughters to see a close up of their outfits and to learn more about their characters.


While we were encouraged and challenged by all the talks given, my girls have been especially blessed by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth's talks.  In picture above, Mr. Botkin is introducing his daughters before their talk. I would say that these two ladies, as well as the rest of their family, are truly modern day reformers.


I especially like this picture of Anna Sofia and Mr. Botkin.  She had us all laughing several times.


This picture reminds me that while we can laugh and have fun as Christians the battle we face is real and serious.


Victoria Botkin gave an encouraging talk to the mothers about teaching and training your children for God's glory.  She has made a CD set called Curriculum Advice, I highly recommend it.  I was able to chat with her after the conference was over and thanked her for taking the time to make that CD, she told me she just wanted to do what she could to encourage homeschool moms because they are her heros!  


Another part of attending these conferences are the wonderful times of fellowship with the other attendees.  Here my husband, Rob, is getting to visit with some old and new friends.  We were able to have meals with several families and enjoy even more time together.  Like Breezy said in her post we wish it could have lasted all week.   Just think in heaven we won't have to say goodbye.  You can go to Breezy and Emily Rose's blogs for more pictures and some notes from the conference.

Here are the links to their posts. (I will add more links as they plan on posting more about it)

Emily Rose's 1st post,  2nd post
Breezy Tulip's 1st post,  2nd post,  3rd post,  4th post

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Jul. 16, 2009 - Our 26th Wedding Anniversary

My husband and I are celebrating our 26th Wedding Anniversary today!!

I have been so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man.  He is such a humble, hard-working, loving husband and father.  When the Lord called us to homeschool, he jumped in with both feet and has stood strong, never wavering or questioning our calling.  He has been so supportive and helpful in encouraging me daily in my tasks here at home.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Psalm 1:1-3

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Jul. 5, 2009 - Purposeful and Intentional Parenting - Part 3, Praising the Lord with songs

I recently wrote a guest post for Joy at Stay at Home Missionary and I wanted to elaborate more on that so here is the Part 3 of my series on Purposeful and Intentional Parenting.

"Teaching our children about God and their need for him is our most important role as parents. We can do this daily from the moment of their arrival by reading to them from the Bible, teaching them songs that bring praise to the Lord, helping them to see God in our everyday moments, praying diligently for them. Look for opportunities throughout the day to help your children delight in the Lord. Teach them about His creation and how they can glorify Him with their lives."

Teach your children songs that bring praise to the Lord.  I don't think that I have to tell you that most children love listening to music and singing, so put that to good use and teach them songs that will strengthen their faith and encourage them over a lifetime.  Look for songs that are not only biblically sound, but that also have a nice tune or arrangement.

One of many great options to choose from would be singing the psalms and other scripture that has been set to music.  You can easily buy a Psalter and an accompanying CD to learn to sing the Psalms if you are not familiar with them.  Crown and Covenant also has Psalm CD's specifically for children here.  Behemoth.com also has several great downloadable selections here, (be sure to scroll through the selections, there are several pages).

There is so much music out there to pick from, I want to encourage you to really read over the words of the songs and discern if they are songs that will bring glory to the Lord.  Even if you don't sing well your children will be blessed by your efforts, so I encourage you to take the time to enjoy singing and praising the Lord together.

I am not saying that those are the only songs that your children should learn or listen to, but to make them an important part of their growing up years. 

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Jul. 3, 2009 - Helping your children to delight in God.

"Teaching our children about God and their need for him is our most important role as parents. We can do this daily from the moment of their arrival by reading to them from the Bible, teaching them songs that bring praise to the Lord, helping them to see God in our everyday moments, praying diligently for them. Look for opportunities throughout the day to help your children delight in the Lord. Teach them about His creation and how they can glorify Him with their lives."



Look for opportunities throughout the day to help your children delight in the Lord and to see Him in the everyday moments.  As you step outside and feel a soft breeze blowing, take a moment and talk about how sweet it is that God gives us breezes and how nice they feel.  If there is a strong wind instead, you can talk about that also, share with your child how God uses the wind to change the weather and how like the Holy Spirit he blows it where He wants.  Maybe you just finished reading a wonderful story, talk about how delightful it is that God gave us words to be able to share stories like that.  Is your child healing from getting their wisdom teeth out, like my youngest daughter this week? Share with them the wonders of how our bodies heal and how sometimes in life we need to just be still and rest.  Look around you and be aware of His presence, He is always at work, help your children to see that and to delight in it.

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Jul. 3, 2009 - Purposeful and Intentional Parenting - Part 2, Reading the Bible to your children.

I recently wrote a guest post for Joy at Stay at Home Missionary and I wanted to elaborate more on that so here is the first of many installments on Purposeful and Intentional Parenting.

"Teaching our children about God and their need for him is our most important role as parents. We can do this daily from the moment of their arrival by reading to them from the Bible, teaching them songs that bring praise to the Lord, helping them to see God in our everyday moments, praying diligently for them. Look for opportunities throughout the day to help your children delight in the Lord. Teach them about His creation and how they can glorify Him with their lives."
 
Reading to them from the Bible - The Bible is full of rich treasures, so be sure to teach the whole Bible to your children.  (Be sensitive to their age and know that some subjects can wait until they are more mature.) Don't depend on your local church or Sunday School class to do this for you. They can assist you if you choose, but the Bible is clear that it is the parents who are responsible for this teaching.  The wonderful thing about this is that as you teach your children you will learn more and more, so do not be afraid of not knowing enough.  A wonderful children's Bible is Catherine Vos's The Child's Story Bible, and as they get old enough to read help them to get in the habit of reading God's word on their own. And don't stop when they reach adulthood - keep reading to them.

You may want to take some time and listen to Ken Ham's State of the Nation that can be accessed here for free. He makes some very interesting points about Sunday School, what is being taught in them, and some very important problems that our modern day churches are facing.

So if anything, don't neglect the reading of Scripture and filling them with God's wisdom.

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Jun. 25, 2009 - Parental Rights Action and Live Webcast with Ken Ham tonight!

Please visit Parental Rights.org to find out about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).  We need to send a message to our Ambassador Susan Rice and the Whitehouse that they need to "represent the United States to the world instead of trying to get the United States to go along with international law initiated by the UN".  Please do all that you can to learn more about this UN law and what we can do to put a stop to it.

Also tonight at 8 PM EST Ken Ham with Answers in Genesis will be having a live webcast.  He will be talking about the State of the Nation - The Collapse of Christian America.  Go HERE to see it live, there will be a pre-show with Carl Kerby starting at 7:30 PM EST.   

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Jun. 18, 2009 - Purposeful and Intentional Parenting

I wrote a guest post for Joy at Stay At Home Missionary on parenting and you can read it here.  Joy and her family have been serving on the mission field and have been traveling back to the states for a nice long furlough.  While they are missionaries on the field, Joy sees that her main ministry is to her family.  We must not ever forget that and we must tell others about it.  When I was first saved and began going to church, I was often encouraged to find a ministry and plug in, no one told me that my husband and children should be my ministry.  That is a shame!  Thankfully the Lord put women in my path such as Sally Clarkson & Jenny Chancey to point me back home! 

Over the next week or two I will be elaborating more on Purposeful and Intentional Parenting so check back for more. 

May the Lord bless you as you serve and bless your family.

Robin

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Jun. 9, 2009 - Christian Families at the Crossroads

Join us this July 10th and 11th in Columbus, Ohio as we gather for the Christian Families at the Crossroads Conference. This unique family event will both encourage and challenge you in your Christian walk.  "With his wife Victoria and seven children, Geoffrey Botkin will provide non-compromising answers to the most serious questions facing the disappearing American family. "

You can find out more about this amazing opportunity at Crossroads09.com!

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Jun. 2, 2009 - A Wonderful Finish

This past Saturday we celebrated Breezy's graduation with an open house.  Thankfully, the weather held out for us and we had a beautiful day.  Here Emily Rose is decorating our tree, Maggie (not pictured) was also helping decorate.


Emily Rose made these garlands and they turned out just adorable.  They gave our big oak tree such a festive look. 


It was encouraging for so many of our friends and family to come celebrate with us throughout the afternoon.


Breezy with her dear friend, Kate.


My sweet sister who helped keep everything running smoothly. 


Rob and I with our lovely daughter. 


Monday morning found us down at our local library putting up Breezy's art show. 


Here is Breezy standing in front of her Senior Art Show.  It will be on display for almost the whole month of June.  What a wonderful finish for her formal home education. 


For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
  Colossians 1 :9-12

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May. 30, 2009 - A sweet post

What a beautiful day we have had celebrating my lovely daughter's graduation from our homeschool.   We will be posting pics and more tidbits of the day at a later time.  After cleaning up we came in and Maggie told us that she had written a post in honor of the day.  You can read my niece Maggie's post here, go ahead, go read it, it's sweet. 

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May. 28, 2009 - What the girls have been up to

We have been busily preparing for Breezy's graduation open house that we are having this weekend -  making lots of food, getting some scrapbooks together (they are really just a collection of pictures, nothing fancy), gathering up some simple decorations, hoping and praying for good weather since we are planning on having it outside. 

We are also getting things together for Breezy's "Senior Art Show" that will be at our local library during the whole month of June.  We have been collecting, making and buying frames and have most everything ready to go.  Just for your info, Rob has become a master at cutting mat board and framing art work.  It is very exciting to see all of this come together, she will be displaying around 20-22 pieces.  We had her prepare for this show as her senior "project". 

I am a little sad to see her "formal" homeschool years come to a close, but she isn't moving away and is going to continue learning throughout life, so I will be okay. 

Emily Rose is currently designing a website for some friends of ours that is starting a home-based business.  (That is her final project for the school year.)  She also keeps very busy creating things for us on the computer and by making these little cuties.   

And the Lord has been blessing the Zimmerman family with help from all over the world!  The Little Tait Preemie Fund has reached it's first milestone of raising over  $51,000.  They are now working towards the other bills that are still astronomical, with the Lord's help these will be met also.  Praise the Lord for His mercy and grace!

So, what has your family been up to?

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May. 26, 2009 - Memorial Weekend

Saturday morning we had the privilege to participate in decorating a local military cemetery with small American flags.  The girls' 4-H group went to help and it turned out to be such a blessing to us.  As we walked along each headstone and placed a flag in front of them, it was so humbling to see the vast number of headstones and to read their names and reflect of the service that they have given to our country.  The picture above is just a small portion of the cemetery. 


Some of their names stood out as we recognized names and thought about the parents that named them.


This one had some small stones on it, I believe it is a Jewish custom to put small rocks at the grave to show respect and that someone has visited the grave.

While we went without really knowing what to expect, we were really blessed by being there and taking part in honoring those that have gone before.  Lord willing, we will go back next year as a family and do it again. 

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May. 22, 2009 - Ways to Bless Your Household

This month has been full of activities and projects that have kept us busier than normal.  One of the things that I am seeing is that the busier we are the more we need to be in God's word and prayer.   As we go through our day it is easy to get overwhelmed with a list that seems to be growing instead of shrinking, but we can stop, pray for the Lord's peace and strength and praise Him for the work that He has set before us.  We can also praise Him for the ability that He gives to accomplish our tasks. 

What if we can't stop and pray?  Pray and be thankful on the run!!

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.  Phil. 4:13

Let your gentle spirit be known to all men.  The Lord is near.  Phil. 4:5

As we seek the Lord and let Him work in us and grow our gentle spirit we can bring peace and encouragement to those around us and help set the tone for our household.

Following are ways to bless your household, especially in seasons of extra stress.

1.  Make studying your bible a priority.
2.  Pray without ceasing.
3.  Rejoice always.
4.  Speak with gentle and kind words.
5.  Serve those around you, even when you are busy!
6.  Be thankful in all things.
7.  Have a joyful heart.
8.  Do your work with delight.
9.  Praise the Lord for the work that He has given you.

And when you mess up (you know we all do), with all humility repent and apologize and...get back to work. 

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May. 9, 2009 - How you can help Little Tait

From May 9 - June 1, $10 from every "Library" sale in Breezy's Etsy shop will be donated to the Little Tait Fund. To order, click here.

Little Tait was born on November 6, 2008 at 3:29 pm, a 27 week preemie weighing 2 pounds 9 ounces, and 14¼ inches long. He and his family spent several months in the hospital as God used the doctors to help sustain his life. After 3 months he was allowed to go home, doing very well.

Tait's parents, Tait and Lauren Zimmerman now have to pay the neonatology bill. It was originally $186,769 but was negotiated and reduced to $51,644.35. If it isn't paid by June 4th, it will be raised to the original amount. Tait and Lauren have decided not to accept government support, as this would restrict their control in the care of their little boy.

Would you like to help Little Tait and his parents? We will be donating $10 of every "Library" print sale to the Little Tait Fund! If you choose to help them by buying a print, be sure it's before June 2. For more info on Little Tait, visit www.LittleTait.com

Thank you and God bless!
Robin

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Apr. 25, 2009 - Does Philosophy Bore You?

We have been studying Philosophy with our Pageant of Philosophy articles from Tapestry of Grace, while we find them interesting someone in our household does not.  The girls were reading the conversation between Simplicio and Buddha and our dog Bentley just killed over with boredom.  He stayed that way for quite awhile.

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Apr. 23, 2009 - Why would you not want to take back something you loaned?

I read this interesting story about socialism over at Basketflat's blog.

Then today I read this article about socialism.  It sounds as though once a socialistic government gets it hands on you they don't want to let go.  But why?

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Apr. 17, 2009 - Doug Phillips' Address at the San Antonio Tea Party

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Apr. 16, 2009 - Anyone for a spot of Tea?

We had a wonderful turnout at the Indianapolis Tea Party yesterday.  The Indianapolis Star reported that there were at least 2,000 people in attendance, but the police working the event estimated 13,000 to 15,000.  That is quite a difference in reporting.  We were told during the rally that they believed there were at least 10,000 present.

The mainstream media doesn't understand what is happening and is putting a ridiculous twist on the reporting of the Tax Day Tea Parties that happened all across the United States.  Just so you know, we thought it was a very family friendly event.

To read about the Tea Parties and information about all the different cities that held them you can click here.  It is really amazing to read about all the Americans who came together to say ENOUGH! 


A dear friend took this picture of us before the rally began and people were still streaming in.

Have you been studying American History?  We have in the past, but we are definitely diving back into it.

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Apr. 15, 2009 - It is time!

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