Serving Him at Home - Homeschool Blogger

Long Time, No See

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:54:00 -0500

Please visit me at Serving Him at Home! Thanks!

Sunday Hymn

Sat, 3 Feb 2007 20:31:00 -0600

O Worship the King

O worship the King, all glorious above,

And gratefully sing His wonderful love;

Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,

Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.

O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,

Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space!

His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,

And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

Thy boutiful care what tongue can recite?

It breathes in the air, it shines in the light,

It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,

And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,

In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail:

Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,

Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

(Robert Grant)

The Next Two Weeks

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 22:56:00 -0600

If I don't post much in the next weeks, it's because I'm really busy. Somehow these next two weeks have filled up and there is not much white space on my calendar! I am babysitting six times, have dentist/orthodontist appointments, going to a stamping night, cleaning the church, participating in our Keepers at Home program, teaching 5/6's (and the preparation involved), bowling Saturay mornings, Small Group fellowship this Saturday, and there is our usual karate on Tuesday/Thursday nights and Wednesday night with Trish.

Whew! I don't know how I managed to get all that scheduled in these two weeks but I did. But the Lord knows how much I can handle and He has already seen fit to cancel an appointment that I had for this coming Saturday. Whenever I find myself in a week or two like this, a few appointments or activities will get cancelled and my load is lessened. Yeah! God is good :-).

I have to admit that I was fretting a few days ago about how I would get all this done. Remember there are still meals to make, school to be taught, household chores to be completed. But I took everything to the Lord and asked Him for His strength because I can't do it on my own. It is so wonderful to know that I can go to Him anytime and bring my burdens, my cares, my conerns to Him and He. will. listen. Isn't that such a comfort? He is concerned about every area in our lives. Every thing that concerns us, concerns Him.

One of my favorite hymns is What a Friend We Have In Jesus. I am so thankful that I have a friend in Him. I'm so thankful that He cares about me in an intimate way. I'm so thankful that He never gets tired or is never too busy to listen to me. He truly is the dearest, most blessed friend I could have!

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

What a Friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged,

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness,

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our Refuge--

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

In His arms He'll take and shield thee,

Thou wilt find a solace there.

(Joseph M. Scriven)

My Day

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 18:59:00 -0600

After being busy this week I was hoping I would be able to stay home today. I was home most of the day and got a lot accomplished:

laundry washed, dried, folded and put away!
bathrooms cleaned
downstairs vacuumed and dusted
kitchen floor swiffered (is that a word?)
started working on menu plans for the next two weeks
cleaned desk and decluttered all old paperwork

I had to run out to the bank this afternoon and since it's so close to Target, well.........I just had to stop in. I'm glad I did! I was able to get two cute fleece throws for $5.88 each. These will go in our family room to keep us warm while we're watching TV or reading. I bought two rugs for my living room that were desparately needed. One was $10 off and the other $5 off. I also bought gloves for $1.48 and a headband (to cover your ears when it's cold) for .74 cents. I found some blue socks that were marked way down. Yeah for the clearance items at Target. I love walking around the perimeter of the store to find all kinds of goodies! The rugs weren't on the clearance rack, though, but in their usual spot. I pulled one out to look at it and noticed the red price tag. Red signals clearance!

As part of my "try a new recipe a week" program, we had this tonight and it was a hit. I think the next time I make it I might add some tomato sauce to make it more like chili. Otherwise, it was good. I did make a few changes: I added 1/3 cup sugar to the crust and I didn't add the red pepper because when I went to buy it the other day, it was $2.24. For one!!! I figured we could live without it. :-)

Tomorrow looks as if it will be busy: grocery shopping, library (Bleak House is in!), haircut and nails done (it's been a month; they are in bad shape). I'm leaving early in the morning to get it all done so I can be home and prepare for worship.

What was your day like? What about tomorrow? Please share!

Sunday Hymn

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:27:00 -0600

In Evil Long I Took Delight

In evil long I took delight

Unawed by shame or fear;

Till a new object struck my sight

And stopped my wild career.

I saw One hanging on a tree

In agonies and blood;

Who fixed His languid eyes on me

As near His cross I stood.

Sure never till my latest breath

Can I foget that look;

It seemed to charge me with His death

Though not a word He spoke.

My conscience felt and owned the guilt

And plunged me in despair;

I saw my sins His blood had spilt

And helped to nail Him there.

Alas, I knew not what I did

But now my tears are vain;

Where shall my trembling soul be hid?

For I the Lord have slain.

A second look He gave which said

"I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid

I died that thou mayest live."

Thus while His death my sin displays

In all its blackest hue;

Such is the mystery of grace,

It seals my pardon too.

With pleasing grief and mournful joy

My spirit now is filled;

That I should such a life destroy

Yet live by Him I killed.

(John Newton)

Jane Eyre

Sun, 21 Jan 2007 19:19:00 -0600

Jane Eyre will be on Masterpiece Theatre tonight at 9:00 pm. I'm looking forward to watching this and comparing it to all the other "Jane Eyre" that I've seen. I'm curious how it will compare to this version, which is my favorite, and to this version. The second version stars Ciaran Hinds as Mr. Rochester and I absolutely loved him in Persuasion.

There is a freezing rain going on right now so tonight is the perfect time to make some popcorn, grab a blanket and enjoy Jane Eyre.

Stephanie and Pam, I hope you're watching!!! :-)

My Prayer for Today

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 06:13:00 -0600

Psalm 17:3b~

I am determined not to sin in what I say. (NLT)

I have resolved that my mouth will not sin. (NIV)

I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. (NAS)

In my Bible reading this morning, I read Psalm 17 and came across the above verse. I pray that as I go about my work today as a wife and mother that I would not sin in what I say. That I would "not let any unwholesome talk come out of [my] mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Eph. 4:29). I pray also that I would "consider how [I] may spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (Heb. 10:24).

It will be a happy day indeed!

Snow?

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 06:01:00 -0600

The weather forecast is calling for some sort of winter precipitation today! Here in Central Virginia it could be snow, rain, sleet, freezing rain, or a combination of all four of those in the same day! Most likely it will just be rain because it hasn't really been that cold lately. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 50's. But, as Aragorn would say, "there is still hope".

Another winter system is supposed to come this weekend. Will it be snow? One can only hope!!!

Margin

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 13:24:00 -0600

The first time I heard about “margin” was at a workshop given by a local homeschool speaker, Shelley Hendry, in 1998. She was giving a workshop on the Titus 2 woman and encouraged us to put margin in our lives.. Like margins around the edge of a sheet of paper, we need to have margins around all the areas in our lives.

The principle of margin is from the book, “Margin” by Dr. Richard Swenson. He has also published a book called “The Overload Syndrome”. I highly recommend both of these books if you wish to put the principle of margin in your life.

What is this margin and how do I create it? Margin is a “white space” around all you have to do during the day. It’s allowing time in your homeschool to work on character qualities when the need arises. It’s allowing time for the unexpected when you are heading out the door to church or on errands. It’s thinking “can I do this (activity, work, etc.) without relationships suffering or losing my sanctification?” It’s having enough time in our day that we can joyfully go about our duties as wives and mothers. It’s planning your life with a cushion for mistakes.

One practical way to do this is when running errands. If you have little ones, you know that nothing takes “ten minutes”. Allow extra time for things to go wrong. Remember that an errand involves stopping what everyone is doing, getting ready, getting everyone into the car, driving to the errand, doing the errand, loading everyone back into the car and driving home. Once you are home it takes a while to unload everyone (and things if you’ve gone shopping) and to unwind and get back to your daily routine. Allow time for this!

Allow margin for time to do important things. If you are so tightly scheduled that when your child asks you an important question you don’t have time to answer it, then you need margin. If you have outside activities so crammed together that you are in a panic when a child loses a shoe or there is a detour in the road, then you need margin.

One of the things that Shelley said during the workshop that stuck with me all these years is “life is not a dot-to-dot”. It’s not about getting from one place to the next in the quickest way possible. We need to have time in our lives to worship the Lord, train our children, manage our households, and care for our husbands. If we are on a dot-to-dot journey, then those areas will be neglected and we “will malign the word of God” (Titus 2:5).

Do you have margin in your life? If so, can you share some of the ways you accomplish this? If not, will you prayerfully ask the Lord to help you in this area?

Tonight--8:00

Sun, 14 Jan 2007 12:43:00 -0600

The wait is over! Jack is back.