on THE Solid Rock - Homeschool Blogger

Moving

Sun, 8 Jul 2007 15:44:00 -0500

Hi :) I am moving my blog to www.homeschoolblogger.com/solidrockhomeschool

See you there :)

Cultivating a Grateful Heart devotion

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 10:44:00 -0500

I liked this one - enjoy :) Rachel

June 28, 2007

Cultivating a Grateful Heart

By Glynnis Whitwer

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Matthew 7:7 (NIV)

Devotion:

Have you ever wondered why God wants us to ask for things in prayer? I mean, after all, He knows everything! He knows my first thought in the morning and my last one at night. He knows my frustration when I’m late and stuck in traffic, and the words I’m biting my tongue not to say. When I think I “need” a brownie, He knows I really need a carrot. And I don’t have to tell God I need help keeping calm while trying to get five kids out the door each school morning. So, since He already knows what I’m thinking and what I need, why do I need to ask Him for help?

One reason I believe God wants us to ask for help is that when we ask and God answers, we appreciate His work in our lives in greater measure. If God provided everything we need before we asked, we could easily believe we are entitled to things. And, if we never saw how sweetly God cares for our needs, we might take His goodness for granted. I’ve learned this lesson a few times, but the one that stands out involved grapefruit.

When I was a child, my mother fixed our family breakfast before my dad left to teach for the day, and before my sister and I went to school. Since my dad enjoyed his routine, breakfast usually consisted of bacon, eggs and toast. On a cold day, Mom occasionally substituted hot cereal for the toast. And during the citrus season, we might have found halves of juicy pink grapefruit on the table.

I’ll never forget the first time I prepared my own grapefruit. I had moved away from home and was attempting to establish some of my own routines, so I had brought home a pink grapefruit. I cut it in half, grabbed a spoon and prepared to scoop out the individual segments like we had done at home. I planted my spoon at the grapefruit’s thick outer rind only to have the fruit not budge. I tried to saw it out with my spoon, but it was stuck fast. I thought I had purchased a defective fruit. My mother’s grapefruit sections slipped effortlessly onto our spoons!

So I did what every wise daughter does: I called my mother for advice. Imagine my surprise when she told me that before we got to the breakfast table, she had already separated the grapefruit sections with a small, serrated knife. For years I thought grapefruit came like that and was shocked to learn it wasn’t so! It was my mother who did all the work without being asked.

I never appreciated my mother’s work because I never knew she did it! Now I know how lovingly she cared for our needs by performing this time-consuming task. Now I am even more thankful for this small act of sacrifice on her part, which is just one of the many ways she cared for our family.

This is the same with God. If He removed all obstacles and challenges from our lives before we knew about them, we could easily become complacent. We wouldn’t see our need for Him and would think we could manage on our own. Each time we ask for God’s help and see Him answer, we appreciate Him even more. By having us ask, God is teaching us to cultivate a grateful heart, and a grateful heart is a good thing! Even sweeter than a pre-sliced grapefruit.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for allowing me to come to You in prayer and share my daily needs and those deep in my heart. I thank You for caring about me and for acting on my behalf when I pray. Help me to be more aware of Your presence every moment of the day, and to see Your hand in every area of my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Related Resources:

The Character of God: Understanding His Heart for Us by Brian T. Anderson and Glynnis Whitwer

Living Life on Purpose by Lysa TerKeurst

Do You Know Him?

Application Steps:

Identify one way God has cared for your needs today. Thank Him in prayer.

Reflections:

Read Matthew 7:7-11. What is Jesus telling us about God’s character and abilities in this passage?

Since God already knows what we need, what are some other reasons He wants His children to ask for help?

What are some reasons God doesn’t answer every one of our prayers exactly as we pray them?

Power Verses:

II Corinthians 4:17-18, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (NIV)

Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (NIV)

Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

Proverbs 31 Ministries

616-G, Matthews-Mint Hill Road

Matthews, NC 28105

www.Proverbs31.org

Proverbs 31 Ministries Daily Devotions

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:49:00 -0500

This was just too good not to share! This pertains to ever area of our lives and definitely to our homeschooling. How often do we really listen to and obey God's voice? Rachel

June 21, 2007

Woof!

By Susanne Scheppmann

Proverbs 8:33-34, “Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. (NIV)

Devotion:

Woof! I thought I heard one small bark. Not sure, I turned the shower off for a moment. No, I couldn’t hear my little dog yapping. Jasmine is a twelve-pound black and white Shih Tzu and a yapper. If anyone knocks on the door, she goes crazy barking like a hundred pound Rottweiller. I turned the water back on, stuck my head under the spray, and reached for the shampoo bottle.

However, a voice inside my wet head nudged me. You heard her bark. Something is up. A realtor could be showing the house! Our home had been on the market for almost a year. About once or twice a week, various realtors would bring a potential buyer to walk through the house. However, it was stipulated that they must call first. The “woof” replayed through my thoughts. Maybe Jasmine doesn’t bark at people coming in anymore. Quickly, I turned the water off again.

I jumped out on to the cold tile floor. To my horror, I heard voices. My bedroom door was wide open. I raced toward the door dripping water along the way. However, it was too late. The realtor along with a husband and wife previewed me along with my bedroom. They saw crisp floral drapes and soft beige carpet, and then they spied cellulite and flab jiggling toward them, reaching out for the blue tattered robe hanging behind the door. I almost slid into their arms as I crossed the wet tile. With wide-eyed shock, they scurried from the house without a word.

I collapsed on a rug with laughter and tears. Jasmine came by to lick me dry. She looked at me as if to say, “Hey, I warned you, but you didn’t listen!”

Eventually my heart stopped pounding and my red face returned to its normal color. After the initial mortification, I began to wonder how often I do not listen when the Holy Spirit speaks to me. How many times have I shrugged it off as just my imagination? Jesus said, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26 NIV). I need to learn to listen to His instruction and be wise, not to ignore Him as I did with Jasmine’s first “woof.”

The next time I feel a nudge from God, I will remember my “woof” incident. I plan on listening and moving a lot more quickly than I did. I do not want to repeat the lesson I learned today.

Oh, I never heard back from the potential buyers. I guess they didn’t care for the preview.

Dear Lord, how often have I not listened to Your voice when You warned me of something in my life? Today, I ask that You help me to listen to Your instruction and to be wise. Thank you for giving me the Holy Spirit to teach me. Let me become a quick learner. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Related Resources:

Do You Know Him?

Perplexing Proverbs—A Woman’s Bible Study by Susanne Scheppmann

Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer

Application Steps:

Read Proverbs 8. Write down the advantages given for learning to listen and applying God’s wisdom in your life.

Reflections:

Do I sometimes intentionally ignore God’s voice?

How could listening to the Holy Spirit help guide me each day?

What does the term wisdom mean to me?

Power Verses:

John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (NIV)

Proverbs 23:23, “Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding.” (NIV)

Ephesians 1:17, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” (NIV)

Hi There :)

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 19:56:00 -0500

This seems to be my favorite email title these days :) The older kids are staying the night at Grandma & Granddads (DH's parents) tonight. We are picking them up tomorrow when we go over for Father's day lunch. The kids are helping Grandma bake cookies and plant a garden. They took their bikes, a skip it, and 2 duffle bags full of overnight stuff. I have not heard from them and they left here at 12:20 so I am guessing that s going well :) Baby an dI have been working on laundry, and hanging out doign nothing. Puppy is hanging out in the back yard - DH fixed her good yesterday - well her escape route anyway ;) She had been getting out of the back yard by sneaking in between our fence and the neighbors fence. The baby is enjoying his new swing, it is a Fisher Price Power Plus Swing and I love it too :) The Fisher Price RainForest Travel Swing that we had was recalled so I en ahead and bought a new one even though we had notrell had any problems with it. I fiured btter safe than sorry right? This one is pretty cool :) We got his Bumbo chair this week too :) he seems to like it for a few moments but not much longer than that just yet, that is all right he is building muscle control. We are still waiting on the tray

Have I mentioned that DH bought the kids a Wii? We all LOVE it! It is so cool and the mini games are the best part - you can still find yourself wasting WAY too much time on it and I know that I will have to be careful when we start school back up. But I know it will be used for current events and weather. We can even submit poll questions for other Wii owners to answer :) That will be cool when we start school back up too! I would recommend that if you like that kinda thing (and if you can find one) to get one, they are really neat :)

The kids have swim classes starting in a few weeks and next week they have spy agent camp :) They are so excited! Quite honestly I am not sure if I am! LOL The baby is a good baby and ot really fussy at all - unless REALLY hungry or REALLY tired (but we all get REALLY cranky at those times don't we?!?). The puppy goes in to be "fixed" this week (is she broken really?!?) and the kdis have dental appointments and I think we are going to try to make it to the rodeo street breakfast this year :) After all I am all ready up feeding the baby at that time! LOL

I am starting to think about scheduling for the coming year. I do not have all the supplies we need ust yet. I m still "collecting" the books for Science (Bob Jones Science 3). For Grammer I have Growing with Grammar Grade 3 but am considering Bob JOnes English Grade 3 - any thoughts on that friends? I want to start back up August 13 but I want to start working our way towards that in the next few weeks (probably mostly after swim classes).

We are doign the luibrarys reading program and we are mostly listening to books on tape for it. DD is reading to s all a lot. I am too tired to read, I may fall asleep. Actually I have started reading Ivanhoe to them. I need to convince DS to read to us some more but being a boy he would rather listen to us all read to him :)

Well, my eyes are really tired today so I am going to go hold the baby and probably fall asleep with him :)

What are you doing this summer?

~ Rachel

Update on life here...

Thu, 7 Jun 2007 19:46:00 -0500

let's see, we had crazy winds yesterday that knocked down a 7 foot section of the fence in our back yard. Thank the Lord that the puppy just hung out on the deck and did not realize it had a way to escape into the neighbors back yard! Tuesday 3DS & I had our 6 week appt. at the midwife and he weighs 10 pounds and is 22 3/4 inches long now :) Our swing (the Fisher Price Rainforest travel swing) was recalled this past week as well. We had not had any problems withit until after we found out there was a recall. We were considering not sending it in b/c we were not having a problem with it then of course we almost had a problem with it so I decided that it was easy enough to send it in with their prepaid package and get the check from them, so I will do that. I ordered a new one today from Target b/c I had a coupon from baby registry that allowed me to get 10% off plus they had free shipping ont he site right now too. 3DS is starting to be awake more and has always LOVED to be sitting up so I ordered him the swing and a bumbo chair & a few other things including a sleep sack in case he decides to sleep in his arms reach co-sleeper ;) I am trying to establish a routine & even be able to fix dinner at a reasonable hour (still not knowing exactly when DH will be home from work) which I am finding difficult and I am not too happy with myself for it but I am sure we will be all right :) Dh's parents are here now. and hi sister and her family just moved back to IL this week. we are all pretty bummed & miss them terribly all ready :( Well, I need to fold some clothes and then go start dinner. I am thinking steaks, evil potatoes (hash browns, sour cream, cheese), salad, corn & bread. 3DS just fell back to sleep in his FP vibrating rocker so I better take this opportunity and do something productive ;) LOL The older 2 are watching Bye Bye Birdie so I can have a few "quiet" moments to fold - I hope to have a few minutes to myself to go shopping and buy a new diaper bag - I want one a bit bigger for when we will be out longer so I can have a book to read while nursing and so I can fit a few more diapers in it - I could fite more in the one I haven ow if I was not using it as a purse as well....

We watched The Holiday last night. It is rated PG-13 but, of course, it should not be. There are some semi-nude scenes in it with Cameron Diaz. Overall, I liked the movie and I like Kate Winslett's character.

Hope everyone is well :)

~ Rachel

Labor, Delivery & Life Update

Thu, 10 May 2007 13:42:00 -0500

Here is a quick recap of labor & delivery. I had been having braxton hicks off and on all week. My last Midwife appt. was the 19th of April and I was 70% effaced & dilated at 2cm. I was sure he would be born on the 26th (my sisters 21st bday) but I missed that by a few hours ;} I called DH at 3 in the afternoon and told him that he should make sure he was not running late coming home that night. Around 6 I called him and told him h should probably come home right then. He asked me if I had called the midwife yet and I told him no because I still was not sure that I needed to ;) He told me I better. So around 6:15 or so I called the one on call. I had all ready talked to her earlier to let her know that I was contracting and feeling them but not hurting and that I had bloody show, I am guessing that they are somewhere b/t 5-10 minutes apart and about a minute or so long. So, anyway she says she is on her way after asking me how far apart they were. i told her I had not been timing them but that I could feel them ;) So DH arrives around 6:30 and gets water into the crock pot and starts heating up the wash cloths and gets the extra shower curtain in the floor so I don’t mess up the carpet. Robin (the midwife) showed up around 7. I am about 90% effaced and 5 cm at this point. Contractions were 4 minutes apart. I was in my nursing gown that I had "planned" to give birth in b/c I was sweating and wanted out of the sweaty clothes. After a few minutes we decide to get me into the tub with contractions about 2 minutes apart and a minute long at this point. I went from the 4 minute contractions to A 3 minute contraction and a while of 2 minute contractions. Robin told me that I would not really feel the contractions in the water. So when I did I teased her about it! No, I am not kidding, I was being normal b/t contractions. After a bit they turn to 1 minute contractions and I start to hurt. Laura (the other midwife) shows up a few minutes before this. The kids are downstairs watching the Brady Bunch on DVD until this point. Now they are sitting in the hall floor just outside my room listening to all that is going on. Robin asks me if I want out of the tub or what. I said I thought so but I did not think I could get out - she told me I was strong and to just do it - so i did. Then i sat on the toilet for a minute and my water broke ad it was go time! I told them i needed to push and somehow I managed to walk to my bed and get on it (with some assistance of course). And after 3 minutes of pushing my DS was born. All in all actual felt labor was one hour and 41 minutes long and yes I am serious I only pushed for 3 minutes. I told them it hurt and I could not do it and they said here's his head and had me touch it. Next push and out his head came. He was laid on my tummy immediately and I pulled him up and they put a blanket over us. I tore a bit and was glued together. Laura ran me a bath and I got to take a bath & chat w/the midwives while DD held her baby brother and DH & DS picked up dinner at Carvel’s. He is nursing well although I wish I could get him to nurse a bit more often. He is a very happy quiet baby. The kids watched through a crack in the bedroom door and came in afterwards and saw their new little brother whom they adore J the last 15 minutes were the most intense and more so than I have ever experienced and more than I think I would like to experience honestly but I would definitely do a home birth again if we have another one! I was more alert and fully conversational if I was not in the middle of a contraction. At one point I told DH that I could hear his voice but I had NO idea what he was saying ;) He jokingly told me that he was giving me permission to go spend lots of $$$ and I told him that my new bed set was going to cost about $300 then another contraction hit. It has certainly been different recovering at home. It has been more peaceful and I feel as if I am recovering MUCH faster than I did in the hospital with the other 2. BTW, the first 2 were natural no drug deliveries as well but at the hospital. OK so maybe the recap was not so quick ;) LOL I typed the previous up a few days after he was born.

Today, 2DS is 15 days old. He is eating and sleeping well. Still nursing about every 2-4 hours. Sleeping well. Alert. I am doing pretty good. We have his co-sleeper set up now. His cord fell off within a week. My mom was here for a few days after he wos born and helped out a great deal. We are still (of course) adjusting to the new baby. I have lost about 20 pounds and 2DS has gained about a pound. I am in transition for clothing - I hate this part - where NOTHING fits.

When 2DS was 4 days old, DH took DD to a breeder NW(?) of Denver and bought us a puppy. I did not mention it before it beofre b/c it was too tough, but our dog died of poisoning on EAster. We beleive it was the Iams Chunks dry dog food. He had not been sick really and suddenly started acting really wierd and lost muscle control and stuff and within 2 hours was dead on Easter night, we buried him in the back yard.

We will start doing some school work 2 days a week soon I think. I just about have everything for school for next year. DD has a ballet recital next week and then she & I celebrate our bday the week after that. I am looking into swim classes for them too. And possibly going ice skating once a week or something like that. Grandma is living in her new home out here now too so we will be making trips out that way every so often, she is going to teach the kids how to sew and cook :)

Well, baby & puppy are napping now. I need to vaccum (might get 1DS8 to do taht though) an dI need to pay bills :(

~ Rachel

He's here :)

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:41:00 -0500

Just a quick not to let you know that 2DS was born last night :) Off to rest with him :)

~ Rachel

Scheduling around DH?

Thu, 5 Apr 2007 20:29:00 -0500

I have a very difficult time setting up a schedule / routine that I can stick to b/c I am never sure when DH will be home from work or when he will leave for work. We have our own business in which we run a physical store and online store. Shipping of online orders is done daily and can vary in amount (& time) from day to day. I hate feeling like I am blaming him that I can not find a workable schedule for the rest of us here at home. Mondays are off days for him, but that does not mean he will be here and sometimes when he is he takes the kids out somewhere on the spur of the moment (i.e. skiing). Tuesdays through Fridays we can be guaranteed that he will be gone from around 10:30 in the morning to at least 6 - but usually somewhere between 7 & 9 pm). Saturdays he is gone from at least 10:30-4 (but sometimes does not get home until 6 or 7). Some mornings he leaves earlier. Some Mondays he works downstairs at his desk and sometimes he claims the kitchen table (where we usually do school, on those days we improvise and do school on the deck or in the living room). I have a very difficult time scheduling our time b/c DH likes me to get up early with him and hang out for a bit then he will work on stuff and I feel like I am not being productive, the kids are sometimes up, sometimes not. I can not really set a bedtime or wake up time b/c there are nights when Daddy is not home in time for them to go to bed "on time". We usually wait for him to be home before we eat dinner, often since I don't know when he is leaving that means fixing dinner at 8:30 at night :( I do have access to a security camera at the store but I don’t want to spy on him nightly just to know if he is on his way home. Plus I am supposed to help hmin the shop (w/the books once a week which I haven ot done in the last few months due to different issues with being pregnant or sick or his changes he has made with the bookkeeping - I am supposed to start back up when I can, we went in last week and all was well.) With the new baby coming in the next month and the wonderful fact that we are done with school for the year, I would like to use this time to set up a new schedule / routine since we will be doing that anyway – any suggestions? Should I schedule Monday as an off day and Saturday as a school day? I really want a 4 day school week anyway, but was thinking that Friday should be our off day. Thanks, Rachel

Are we ready?

Thu, 5 Apr 2007 17:03:00 -0500

I have been in my room saying I am goign to take a nap for about 2 hours now and have not even gotten close to it! I have not done anything today really :( LOL The kids are working on DS's (8)room right now. We have some organizing to do on my room before the midwives come next week to see where all my birth supplies are and how we are progressing if at all ;) Yesterday, we received a 42 pound box of baby clothes, toys, blankets, etc from an out of state friend. We spent the day going through those and sorting by size / age. Most of the 3-6 month stuff is in a box, all the 6 mo. - 2T stuff is in another box. I have a box with a potty chair and older toys and spoons and cups for him as well. And then all by its lonesome is a booster chair from my SIL :) The 0-3 month stuff is in a few places right now - sleeper stuff is in a hamper in my room awaiting to see if they will fit in a drawer in my dresser, a variety of clothes are in the birth supply basket, and outfits are hanging up in DD's closet :) I think we are pretty much set. Now, I just need DH to bring in the co-sleeper and the travel sized baby swing :) I really just need the swing in here b/c I want it in here ;) LOL The baby bed does not need to come in until after he is born so that really is not a big deal. I do need to dig out the crock pot and get it into my room ;) The midwives need it for hot, wet washlothes during labor. We are almost ready though :) I honestly feel like I have pregnant forever! I love waking up in the morning and feeling the baby squirm his good morning though :) DD (6) helped me with the clothes yesterday and got to the point where she could tell what size most of the clothes were by how big (little) they were :) It was cool :) We went to the midwife last week while my dad was in town so he could see the baby via ultrasound :) It was pretty cool :) he looks like a fat little baby now, DH says, "What did you expect?". Well, it has been a while since I have seen the little guy so it was a bit of a shocker really ;) LOL the midwife said that there is a lot of cord and the fluid al looks great and she is 105% positive that it is a boy ;) LOL his lungs were pumping and that was really cool to see :) She said that if he were born right then that it was likely he would need no intervention at all. I felt him descending a bit (actually I felt air bubbles where he was displacing the amniotic fluid as he slid down ;) The midwfe was surprised to hear that b/c I dont feel any braxton hicks :)

We are done with school for this year :) Yeah! We are all excited and enjoying our fre time way too much! LOL We are slowly accumulating school materials for next year. I think all I need honestly at this point is Science and I am having issues tying to decide between Bob Jones Science grade 3 or the Answers in Genesis set that is on sale this month ;) Any input there is totally appreciated.

I am trying to decide whether or not to ask for help with meals after baby is born, is that forward or should I do it? Laundry is easy enough b/c the older kids can handle that part really and a lot of the mundane tasks for house cleaning they enjoy and can handle as well (dishes, vacumming, sweeping, dusting). Thoughts?

Well, I better go and nap or shower or get dressed or soemthing! LOL Yes, it is aftr 4:PM here and I am still in my comfy fleece pjs from last night :) LOL

Oh any idea where I can find inexpensive nursing clothes?

~ Rachel

Just some rambling...

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 18:51:00 -0500

Good evening :)

We had a good weekend :) I figured DH was too tired to go to church (he has been working 12-14 hour days a the shop - not counting hours he has been putting in designing or doing bookkeeping here at the house) so I did not even try, later he told me that he figured we would have gone to church - communcication is a great thing when we utilize it, huh?!? Anyway, he works Saturdays so we do not do anything that day. Sunday afternoon we took a drive south to look for land for sale and found some land and some homes as well. We will talk to a friend about looking at some of it. Are still jus in the talks stage of considering moving bt at the same time we know we need to move so that we have more room for school and the kids and life and possibly to bring the business back home too. It was a full day of driving and riding in the car and I got prety swollen but we had a good time :)

Today, he worked from home until about 3 or so. We ate lunch out on the deck. For breakfast DS wrestled Daddy for the last Thanks a Lot GS cookie ;) They have done most of their chores and we did all of todays school work and even tomorrow's science lesson. They are grounded from playing outside until Wednesday but they have enjoyed some play time inside. It is the best school day we have had in a while around here. We are enjoyng the beautiful weather with the windows open and the animals sleeping in th sunshine. The birds have been playing all day, I love listening to them and watching them.

Well, there is a baby sitting on my bladder - actually I think he is using it for a trampoline or something like that at the moment so I better get off here ;)

~ Rachel