Blessings to you! Thank you for stopping by my blog! My name is Tessa, I am a homeschooling high schooler, the oldest of 7 (soon to be 8) kiddos and daughter of the most wonderful earthly parents. I daily live my life trying to serve my King and honor Him in everything I do. I do not live for the moment, I work hard to make a lasting imprint of Jesus on people that I come in contact with everyday. I know that the important things in life take time, much prayer, and a whole lot of trust in Jesus. I pray that you will be blessed in the reading of my blog, that you will see my King shine through each word you read, and that you will be encouraged to live your life for Him. Blessings! ~Tessa http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:56:00 -0500 Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:56:00 -0500 I thought I'd take a moment to share a picture of the young ladies that attend the Beautiful Girlhood Bible study. Two of the young ladies (the 2 in the back right hand corner) were just visiting, but all the rest are regular at attending. The Bible study is going to start up again on September 2nd. I've been busy getting everything planned out and written down. I'm still working on finding a good study guide and am considering Maidens of Virtue by Stacey McDonald. It is such a wonderful book, and I'm sure each young lady will be blessed by it. *THIS PICTURES HAS BEEN REMOVED TO MAKE ROOM FOR NEW ONES* Aside from that news, I'm excited to announce that this Monday is THE day--mom's going to have her itty bitty baby! We think it's a girl--but you never know, there is always a chance it's something else. :) I'll be sure to update Monday afternoon with a picture to boot. Please be praying that God would direct the doctors hands and minds and that mom wouldn't be too nervous. God is good! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/707094/ Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:56:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/707094/ For Today: July 5, 2009, Sunday Outside my window: Rain, trees, birdsong, and a lovely breeze. I am thinking: That I should go get my coffee that just finished brewing! I am thankful for: A good church that we can go to on Sunday mornings. I am wearing: My choring clothes--a denim skirt, a red long-sleeved shirt, no socks, and my hair in a braid. I am reading: The book of 1 Timothy and a book my Tracie Peterson. I am hoping: That Percy (my cat) will stop walking in font of the keyboard. I am creating: An evil plan to get Percy off the computer desk. He is now laying on the mouse! I am hearing: The fridge door opening,  PJ talking, singing birds and rain. Around the house: Everyone except PJ is sleeping. Percy is still sitting on the desk with me. One of my favorite things: Vacation to the U.P. of Michigan! What I accomplished since last week: I finished reading through the book of Romans, practiced a little bit for VBS and went to the doctor with my Momsie. A few plans for the rest of the week: To work on being humble and to sit on my puff of pride. These two things go together so well, but they also seem so far apart from each other. This morning we're going to be heading out the door for church and Wednesday is Bible study at church. We'll probably be going shopping somewhere in there too. A favorite memory verse: Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 2:3 I am praying for: My family, the Housleys, my future husband, Willow (who broke her arm July 3rd!) and for the willingness to serve God wholeheartedly with a smile in my face and a grin on my heart! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/705211/ Sun, 5 Jul 2009 06:50:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/705211/ Philippians 4:4-9 (New American Standard Bible)  4--Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!   5--Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.   6--Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.   7--And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.   8--Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.   9--The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/705209/ Wed, 1 Jul 2009 06:47:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/705209/ For Today: June 28th, 2009, Sunday Outside my window: Beautiful lush green trees and vining plants. The sun is shining down with white puffy clouds gracing the blue sky. I am thinking: about my shower, making breakfast, Bible studies later this week, the young ladies Bible study restarting in September, my little baby sister that's going to be born July 13th and our family vacation that's coming up quickly. I am thankful for: My family, friends, a place to live, food and freedom to read the Bible. I am wearing: My choring clothes--a denim skirt and orange shirt. I am reading: A book by Eric and Leslie Ludy and working through the book of Romans. I am hoping: That it will rain. We could use some water for the garden and cistern. I am creating: Bible study plans for next September and a homemaking journal. I am hearing: My brother singing, the soft hum of the computer, wild birdsong, and a door closing. Around the house: Everyone except one of my brothers is sleeping. The goats, chickens and horses are the only ones up--and I've already visited them. One of my favorite things: Coffee in the morning along with some good conversation with my family. What I accomplished since last week: Bible study notes done for this Friday, planned what kind of garb is needed for this year's VBS at our church, and simply made it through the week. A few plans for the rest of the week: To work on my patience--oh how I need to gain it. Bible studies Wednesday and Friday, Monday going walking with Sarah, Tuesday is mom and dad's date night. Aside from that, I'll set a goal of reading a chapter of Proverbs along with my normal Bible study each evening. Here is a picture I am sharing with you: I need to find something along these lines for our VBS this year that is set in Rome. God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with him.  ~Jim Elliot http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/703217/ Sun, 28 Jun 2009 06:51:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/703217/ I made it through my week of no telephone, computer or radio! There were about three people who thought that I just would not be able to give up those things for a whole week (someone even called it sever!)--but I proved them wrong. There were a couple of times I goofed....I wanted to show dad something on the Internet that I thought he would enjoy, and without a second thought was on the site and showing it to him! After everyone left the computer it dawned on me that I was using the computer! Good cow! How easily I slip back into routine! The second time was when we were on our way to go strawberry picking. Mom wanted to know how much farther we had to go down a certain road until we got there, so she asked me to call the business and find out....again, without even thinking about it, I was on the phone and off before I realized I had used something that I said was staying away from! Aside from my two mistakes, everything went well. I learned two things 1) that I don't know where I fit computer and phone time in, and 2) that I need to gain a very important fruit of the spirit: patience. I found it very interesting that throughout my week of no computer, phone and radio I noticed a huge area in my life that I need to work on. My reason for staying away from these things was so that I could give more time to God, and it worked! He showed me that I need to have more patience with life--and especially my brothers and sisters. Too often I ignore the littles when the are trying to tell me something about a bee landing on a flower in the cemetery, or asking for a drink of water, or wanting to play 'ring-around-the-rosey'. "After all," I think "I don't have time to do this stuff!" I realized that I was giving other things more thought that the people I love most. I'm very thankful that I took the time out to re-focus. God is good! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/701793/ Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:11:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/701793/ I had the pleasure of visiting a close friend of mine in TN this past week that I met in a store in Michigan about 4 years ago. You can read about the way we met here. It truly is very amazing how God can bring friends together and how He can use friendships for His glory. This makes me realize all the more that God is perfectly capable of bringing my future husband all in His time and in His own way! Who would have thought that when this girl came up to me in the store, a life long friendship was started? Certainly I didn't! God is good! We met in Kentucky last Sunday afternoon and spent a glorious week in sweet friendship. We had plenty of time to study God's Word together (which was something we'd been wanting to do for a LONG time), talk, talk some more, take good long walks, pray together, bake cookies, go out to Chinese, eat popcorn with M&M's sprinkled on top and much more. For days after I arrived, I was told that my friend still couldn't believe I was finally there. I experienced sheer terror while swinging from my arms that where holding on to a tire swing tied to a tree suspended (at the highest point) about 30 feet above the ground...and almost died. I had the hugest laugh attack while lying in bed one night and almost died from lack of air. I was constantly teased about my northern accent (which I'm still convinced I don't have). I almost died from lack of air again when I was talking about a gallon jar of honey and my friend’s sister couldn't understand what I was saying because I was pronouncing my 'a' wrong. Good cow. I also had my purse stolen. On my last day in TN, we went to a lake to have a short swim. Everybody in the house came and it was a good ol' time. We spent about 45 minutes there, and then had to hurry home so we could be back in KY around 6 in the evening. About half way back to the house, I found that my purse was missing from the seat where I had left it. My friends older sister tried calling my cell phone, but found that it was shut off--which was odd because it was fully charged and on when we left. We turned around and went back to the lake thinking that whoever stole my purse might have just dropped it off because there was nothing worth while in it (which wasn't true, of course!). Unfortunately, we couldn't find it. *Sigh* It was odd because after we got to the lake the first time, this guy came out of the bushes in front of where we had parked and then went and sat back in his white pick-up. We didn't think anything about this until we came back the second time and he was STILL sitting there. Why, after about 40 minutes, would he still be there? He talked to us and asked us what we were looking for. We quickly explained and he goes "Oh, you'll find it." Hmmmm.....we though. How odd. After more looking, a couple of guys came up to our car and told us that they had seen a tan truck pull up to ours, open the door, take something, and leave. They gave us the license plate number of the truck, and went back to their fishing. Now we had an eye witness account and could call the police! As soon as my friends older sister got out her cell phone, the guy (who was STILL sitting there and watching us) in the white pick-up left. We called the police and after about 20 minutes, they finally got there. We gave them the license plate number and all the other information she needed. While we were finishing up our stuff, the guy in the white pick-up came back. Very suspicious. So, to this very hour, we still haven't recovered my purse. My camera, wallet, watch, keys, money, SS card, drivers permit, health care card, and everything else that was in there is still in somebody else's hands. It was really upsetting at first, and still is. I had a really bad outlook on things when everything first started unrolling in front of my eyes--that is, until my friend’s mom said that this guy, whoever he is, had NO idea that when he stole my purse, he was unleashing a bunch of prayer warriors after his soul. "Wow!" was the only thing I could think. Not two minutes after the thoughts about wanting to beat this guy up were running though my head--I started praying for this guy’s salvation, and that he would be led to Christ through this seemingly unfortunate event. I'd be thankful if you would start praying for this mans salvation as well. Soooooo......that's all the excitement for now. We had lots and lots of fun together, nonetheless.....thanks again, Rye Bread! This evening we went to the Wednesday night Bible study at our church, and Pastor Andy made a comment that we should shut off our computers, phones, radios etc. for at least one minute a day and just STOP. Stop and listen to God--take time to just be quite and spend time with Him. I've decided that starting at 12:00 tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to quit the computer, phone and radio for a whole week. I think that this will strengthen my relationship with my Lord, and bring me closer to Him. I'll be able to concentrate more fully on Him and ONLY Him. These modern things will just have to be put on hold for a week--while I regain sweet communion with my Father. Many blessings and until next week, Tessa http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/697418/ Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:13:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/697418/      I'm sure many of you have heard of the books called Before You Meet Prince Charming (by Sarah Mally) and Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends by Sarah, Stephen and Grace Mally.       They are both wonderful books and so encouraging. I know the wisdom that I've gleaned from reading Before You Meet Prince Charming has been of great help to me--Sarah Mally writes with a heart fully dedicated to God, and you can see it shining right out of the pages! Their book about brothers and sisters is also truly wonderful. It is a great aid to any family and every person with or without brothers and sisters. The advice offered in Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends is worth more than gold and you'll never want to trade it for anything.         Not too long ago, I sent Sarah Mally an e-mail asking her a few questions about the Bible study that I lead for younger girls. I was having some problems deciding on how to handle certain problems, and I figured that since Sarah Mally is a leader and the founder of Bright Lights (a wonderful ministry for girls ages 9-13), she might be able to offer me some helpful advice. And right I was! Sarah e-mailed back about 6 days later with a page full of good advice and encouragement. On the bottom of the e-mail, was the link to Grace's blog, called Grace Notes. I clicked over and sure enough was humored that they were going to be at the Creation Museum in just a few days!     We live about 45 minutes from the C. Museum so it's just a hop skip and a jump away. Very do-able! I was able to abtain free passes from a friend that works at the C. Museum--so we were all set to go and here the Mally's speak in person! How exciting!    On May 26th, the day after Memorial day, we left the house at about 1 o'clock to go hear the Mally's speak. Goodness--what a time of fun and blessed encouragement it was! They talked all about how we need to look at our irritations not as problems, but as things that are helping us to grow, and how God puts things in our lives now to help us for when we are older! God is so good!     I had a really nice time and was very excited to be able to talk to Sarah and Grace in person for a little while. Sarah signed my copy of Before You Meet Prince Charming--a treasure that I'll always hold dear. *THIS PICTURE HAS BEEN REMOVED TO MAKE ROOM FOR NEW ONES!* Sarah Mally, me and Grace Mally    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/693125/ Wed, 27 May 2009 13:02:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/693125/ This is just a little something that I typed up to go along with a Bible study that I head up--I thought that it might bring encouragement to the eyes that read it. It is so important for us to always be looking for ways we can be a blessing to others around us, namely our families. It is so odd how the ones that we hold dearest to our hearts are often the ones that we mistreat the most, is it not? I think we all need to go on a quest of godly living.....a 'race' in which we all strive our hardest to honor God in everything we do. Truly, if we are Christians, we need to do this without being told! Speaking of which, Scripture memorization is a wonderful way to start this quest. The Bible says to "hide God's word in our hearts". How often do we do this? It's sad to say, but I think that most of us even fail to read the Bible, let alone memorize parts of it. Just some thoughts from my heart is all...... Five Things You Can Do To Be A Sunshine-Maker In Your Home: 1. Smile! When you walk past somebody or are talking to somebody, give them your best grin--a smile can fix anything! 2. When you see someone is sad, try to cheer them up by encouraging them--read a special verse from Proverbs, or a pretty poem to encourage them! 3. Be generous with your compliments, when you see something that someone worked hard on, praise them for it! 4. Never complain when you are asked to do something. Always do it cheerfully and quickly with a happy heart. 5. Be sure to have a thankful heart for even the small things--everything has been given to you by God--and we need to be thankful for all of it! “Do all things without murmuring (complaining) and disputing (arguing).” Philippians 2:14 © copyright Joyful Heart Publications by Tessa S----- http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/690627/ Tue, 19 May 2009 18:13:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/690627/ I'm sure not everyone has heard the wonderful quote (soon to follow--just promise me you'll read the rest of this paragraph before you jump to the quote. That would be cheating, you know) about being a nobody but doing something for Somebody? Yep--that's the one. The one that just kind of gives you goose bumps when you read it because it's so true (at least I hope it's true...because we all should be telling people about Jesus) it just kind of invigorates your soul to do more and to go above and beyond what people expect. I'm Just a Nobody Telling Everybody About Somebody Who Can Change Anybody. I do so enjoy that quote. I'm not sure who it's by--whoever wrote it though, had a might good sense of tanginess in his head. Now--do you want to know a quote (saying or whatever ya call it) that I really really DON'T like? It goes something like Modest is Hottest. THIS IS SO NOT TRUE! You know what? I don't dress modestly to be hot--I dress modestly to please my Lord. Does anyone that uses this little slang motto know the TRUE meaning of the word hot? Take a look at this: WBESTERS DICTONARY DEFINES "HOT" IN THESE WORDS: full of or characterized by any very strong feeling, or by intense activity, speed, excitement, etc.; a) fiery, excitable. b) violent, raging, angry. c) full of enthusiasm, eagerly intent, ardent. d) inflamed with sexual desire, lustful. e) very lucky or effective. Ladies--is this this why we dress modestly? I don't think so. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/689416/ Fri, 15 May 2009 17:11:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/689416/ “A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” --George Moore      To me, this quote means a lot. I haven’t traveled the world or gone on long hunts looking for something. I’ve never pondered the fact that something was missing. Nor have I ever gone anywhere looking for what I needed. I have never puzzled over the question of whether there was something left undone in my life, left out or forgotten. This is probably because my life has always been complete--everything has always been right and all the pieces have always been in place. Nothing has ever been missing.    My life has been so great because my loving Father in Heaven has given me a mother. My mom is the reason that I’m here today, the reason that I know what I do, and the reason my life has been so easy. She is the reason I serve a Living God and the reason that my life has a purpose. God is truly a God of wonderful amazing love to give any child the gift of a mother. I can honestly say that my mom is among the most lovely and precious gifts I’ve ever been given.    This Mothers Day, I want my mom to know how much I love her and how thankful I am for all she’s done for me. I want to thank Jesus for my mom, and I want my mom to know that I would do anything I could to show her how much she means to me.     Mom, you are so special! I love you so very much--happy Mothers Day!                                                                                           ©  Tessa Dae http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/687048/ Fri, 8 May 2009 18:42:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Button/687048/