mommy blog

Simplicity of Staying At Home

2011-12-09T05:04:00.001-08:00

Another post I found encouragement from this morning! This mommy's heart resonates with my own.

PassionateHomemaking

Where are finding your fulfillment?

A Quick Cozy Project

2011-11-20T17:56:00.001-08:00

Being in the mood for a quick crochet project, I put this Bible cover together last week. I love this waffle pattern. It makes thinner yarns a little more cozy, and the pattern looks so interesting. I was given a baby blanket made in this pattern and it happens to be my daughter's favorite blanket right now.

I am spending much of my spare time knitting and crocheting and trying to search online for wool and yarn possibilities in Madagascar. I am convinced that there must be supplies there since many wool and yarn retailers in the States and Australia import some of their specialties from Mada. Let's hope, so my love for this craft may continue past the few supplies I have tucked away in our crates Mada-bound. Plus, I have found some tank top patterns I am anxious to begin for the girls.

Any projects on the go at your house?

Twenty and Ten

2011-10-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

We have begun our fourth novel this morning! Twenty and Ten by Claire Huchet Bishop. This novel is about young jewish children who must hide from the Nazis during WWII. They are hidden in a little school among other children.

How's your homeschooling adventures going so far?

Goals - Purposes

2011-10-29T04:58:00.000-07:00

St Charles River - Quebec City

For the past 6 weeks, dear friends (from across the country) and I have been studying 1 John. My small group happens to be close friends from my home church, and it has been such a blessing to keep in contact this way. For me, it has meant so much to share in what God is teaching them about His Word! This morning, I read a short devotional that is related to 1 John 2 & 3, where John is talking about living for Christ. What does that mean? What is our purpose in life? Should our life-goals be different than nonbelievers? What should our priorities be?

Thought I would share it here:

When I look back on my life nowadays, which I sometimes do, what strikes me forcibly about it is that what seemed at the time most significant and seductive, seems now most futile and absurd. For instance, success in all of its various guises; being known and being praised; ostensible pleasures, like acquiring money or seducing women, or traveling, going to and fro in the world and up and down in it like Satan, exploring and experiencing whatever Vanity Fair has to offer. In retrospect all these exercises in self-gratification seem pure fantasy, what Pascal called "licking the earth." They are diversions designed to distract our attention from the true purpose of our existence in this world, which is, quite simply, to look for God, and, in looking, to find Him, and having found Him, to love Him, thereby establishing a harmonious relationship with His purposes for His creation. -- Malcolm Muggeridge

As a mother I tend to set pretty high goals for myself and my children, and quite frankly it can set us up for disaster because they just aren't practical very often. However, when I sit back and really assess what is important and what I want to accomplish and just focus on that, it is slightly less chaotic.

What are your goals with your children? Are you purposing to focus on those things that are most worth-while? I have been challenged by this thought lately as we are still in the throes of transition in Quebec and will soon be in a more permanent home in Africa. Maybe there will be more thoughts on this later .... ... . if I have time :)

When They're All Preschoolers

2011-10-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

If you are in a similar boat as I am (all your children are kindergarten/preschool age or younger) than you have probably wondered or asked another mom "How are you managing?"

I couldn't have said it better myself when I found this article. We have implemented just about all of her ideas over the past couple of years and it works so well! From having the little baby on a schedule, to consistent quiet times for everybody to practicing obedience in a fun way, this mother has summed up her tips beautifully. Please read her article - if you have time, or quickly scan the bullets below. (In no particular order by the way)

Put your baby(ies) on a schedule--makes for a more predictable day
Everybody has quiet time after lunch
Practice "obedience" time we call it Training Time in my house. Make up things for you kids to do for 10 or so minutes, so they are practicing obedience without tough emotions in the heat of a moment.
Prepare for the next morning Tonight! Get the coffee ready, lay out clothes for yourself, or everybody. Make your husband's lunch. Run the dishwasher! :) Put clothes in the washing machine. Whatever you have to do to make your morning more seamless.
Simplify - stay home more.
Be flexible. Be willing to change as the Lord leads you to. If something isn't working, make the appropriate change that is best for your family!

Cute Crochet

2011-10-09T05:11:00.000-07:00

This crochet pattern is so easy, and so quick! The slippers pictured above will fit my 5-year old daughter but the original pattern is made to fit a 2-year old. Probably even if you are a beginner-intermediate crochet-er you could adjust this pattern to fit a child of any size. The reason I love this pattern so much is that it is quick. These whipped together in less time than it took to watch a movie--a huge plus when I want to make several pairs.

Happy knitting/crochetting

Poetry + Play-Doh

2011-10-08T17:02:00.000-07:00

Sunday Morning Chaos

2011-10-07T15:27:00.000-07:00

From True Woman Blog

I just have to repost this article from Revive Our Heart's True Woman Blog. It resonates from where I am right now; a mom with many young children in my care. It never fails, it seems every Sunday morning there's a crisis, or my husband and I are driving to church in silence due to some disagreement. This read really encouraged me, and gave me some practical ideas to try and improve our Sunday morning experience!

True Woman: Sunday Morning Chaos

Rejoicing in a Desert

2011-10-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

This desert experience of mine isn't a tragedy or cause for grief or sadness. But I have recognized that I am in a difficult season. Perhaps I will look back on it one day and realize it wasn't really that difficult. But right now, it feels difficult.

What is a desert? Well, it's a hard place. A place of deprivation. A difficult situation. It can be prolonged. It can be a time when we face intense temptation. The desert could involve feelings of fear, or anxiety. What's going to happen next? What about this? or that? A desert could be spiritual dryness. You may not be certain why, you aren't conscious of any sin, but God's Word doesn't seem to be much more than words on the page.

I am certain that God wants to reveal Himself to me in the midst of my desert. He desires that I draw near to Him, cry out to Him, dig deeper in His Word - search for His promises. I am hopeful He will teach me something invaluable during this desert season. I can think of another desert I went through a couple of years ago, and when I look back on that desert experience, God was right in the center of it.

Lord, meet me in the desert today.

I will rejoice in the desert, as I look up to Him and anticipate great things from my Father.

Revisit A Favorite Resource

2011-10-05T07:00:00.001-07:00

Thought I would re-post this from 2007! Much has changed in our family's situation. Three more little ones have entered our family since writing this, we have sold the house my husband worked on renovating for 6 years, and we are learning French in Quebec City before we move to Africa! One thing remains though - and that is my husband's desire for friendship with me..... I invite you to read on about what Eggerich's has to say from his excellent book Love & Respect.

Relationship - His desire for Friendship (Originally posted to this blog in 2007)

This chapter totally made sense to me and I bear testimony of this being true in my marriage. My husband always has different projects going on, with the house, the vehicles, with his guns, etc. When the weather was warmer, and he was outside working in his shop or in the yard, he would ask me to just come outside. He didn't expect me to do anything, he just wanted me to be watching or nearby. I quickly learned that he didn't even necessarily want to talk about anything. Just having me outside was enough.

Our evening routine is the television. We put our daughter to bed, and then both of us seem to veg out watching a sitcom or something on Discovery Channel (my husband's favorite of which I found funny the author used that as his example). I've often felt guilty that we're not doing something more meaningful in the evenings. Shouldn't we be talking or playing a game, or something together? After reading what Eggerichs says about the husband's need for relationship, and what it means to him, I realized that I am doing exactly what my husband wants. It doesn't matter that we're not having dynamic conversations every minute that we're together. All my husband wants, is for me to be with him.

Your Husband will Feel You Value His Shoulder-to-Shoulder Friendship When:

you tell him you like him and you show it (he knows you love him, but he often wonders if you really like him).
you respond to his invitation to engage in recreational activites together or you come along ot watch him.
you enable him to open up and talk to you as you do things shoulder to shoulder.
you encourage him to spend time alone, which energizes him to reconnect with you later.
You don't denounce his shoulder-to-shoulder activites
with his male friends to get him to spend more face-to-face time with you. Respect his friendships, and he will be more likely to want you to join him shoulder to shoulder at other times.

So, how about your experience with your husband? Does he fit this description? I'd be interested in hearing about it!

Deserts

2011-10-04T04:39:00.000-07:00

The darker the night,
the brighter the stars shine.

Handling Hardships

Encouragement for the Day

2011-09-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

I was very encouraged this afternoon when I read this interview about homeschooling from Passionate Homemaking.

I encourage other homeschooling mothers out there to give it a read.

Hide The Word In Your Heart

2011-09-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

Memorizing Bible verses is an important part of our homeschool curriculum. Last year we had the privilege of being a part of a kids club at a local church called AWANA - which literally stands for Approved Workman are Not Ashamed. Faith loved attending this weekly program, and she learned some great verses too. Growing up, memorizing verses was a big part of my own childhood. And, compared to now, it was far easier to memorize when I was a little kid! This makes me want to take advantage of this time of my children's lives. When their little minds are so receptive and can memorize things almost effortlessly. Plus, it is so nice hearing them sing and recite memory verses. One of my favorite types of music to listen to is Scripture put to song. What better songs to have "stuck" in your head, than Scripture verses? I grew up with Steve Green's Hide 'Em In Your Heart, which I highly recommend you check out on YouTube or ITunes, but more recently, I have discovered the Seeds Family Worship music. This family is also putting music to verses and they are very nice songs. These are fantastic tools for memorizing Bible verses.

We don't have the opportunity for Faith to be in a weekly memorizing club with other kids, but I have designed a bit of a motivational system for her, and I keep my ears out for tunes to memory verses and other ideas to motivate her. I have created a little chart that has eight spots for eight memory verse stickers. Every time she reaches four verses, she is award a small prize from the dollar store. Our goal is to memorize one verse per week, and even though she could probably memorize faster, I like to keep her at this pace. This way, it works out to one prize per month!

I made this sheet on the computer and after she memorizes a verse, she gets to put a sticker on the spot. I like to record the verse reference below the star.

I haven't been overly intentional with my 3 year old Wesley. But he is beginning to pick up some verses, because I find if I don't incorporate him and Joyanne (my 2 year old) into school time, school just doesn't get done!

How do you motivate your children to memorize Scripture? What kinds of tools or helps do you use?

The following was produced by Seeds Family Worship:

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Creating a "Quiet Hour"

2011-09-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

Calling all moms out there with young children! Without sounding like I am an advocate of "Me Time" (because quite frankly, I really don't like that phrase, me-time) however I do advocate what we call in our home the "Quiet Hour." Sometimes, if we're lucky, this even stretches into two hours! Everybody needs to have quiet moments to think, or to sleep in the case of really young ones. There are so many distractions in our environment. There is so much stimuli we can choose to expose ourselves to. Between, the computer and internet, CD's, videos or television, even books... when do we actually have time to just quietly think? Perhaps the skill of being quiet and thinking has to be a learned one in our day of technology and the "go-go-go" lifestyle most of us keep.

When my first daughter grew out of her one and only nap at the ripe old age of 2, I decided for my own sanity sake, I would have to keep a quiet time in our house in the afternoon. A time for me to do whatever I wanted or to just be quiet on the couch by myself. So we have done our best to keep "Quiet Hour." My two- and three-year-old still nap in the afternoon on most days, but sometimes they just play in their room quietly. Of course, my littlest baby still naps multiple times during the day. I look forward to this "Quiet Hour." And I am convinced as the children grow and spend all day with each other through homeschooling, we will benefit from quiet time alone. Time without TV, without computer, without MP3 player... just being quiet. And I pray that these times will grow into spiritual times. That the children would spend time talking with their Lord, and even more importantly, knowing how to be still to hear Him speak too.

He says, "Be still and know that I am God" -- Ps. 46:10a

I would be interested in hearing from anybody about ways you implement a quiet hour in your home. Do you set up quiet activities for your children? What kinds of activities?

September Already?!

2011-09-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

Growing up, summer always seemed to fly by and not much has changed now that I am older. Summer still goes by far too quickly. But perhaps time is just zooming by in general! Even though summer (my favorite season) comes and goes in a blur, I still looked forward to September. It marks new beginnings. Being homeschooled (and fond of school work) I was anxious to begin new work and I had the opportunity to see some of what my mom was preparing for the new year. September also marked the beginning of weekly Bible Study or AWANA club at church, Youth Group, or Bible Quizzing. Growing up on Vancouver Island, and later living in the lower mainland of BC also meant we were entering nine long months of gray weather. I am excited to experience autumn here in Quebec. I have been told it is a beautiful season, perhaps the favorite among most people here.
As we begin a new season here and changes in weather and activity and perhaps feelings toward things, I am reminded that God never changes. He is the same today, yesterday and forever, and I am so thankful. As quickly as time passes, and things change, I can be sure that God never does, and He is just as loving and forgiving as He has always been.
So, in the hustle and bustle of mothering, being a student, being a teacher (myself) and relocating to another continent, I can rest in Christ and focus on the steadfastness of His love and promises to me.

"My Father's Dragon"

2011-08-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

We are on our final week of "My Father's Dragon" and we have been putting together our first lapbook to go along with it.
Faith has enjoyed this idea, and I also like the way it keeps her little crafts in one spot. I think it will also help her recall elements of the whole story once we are finished the novel.

Mommy on Audio

2011-08-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

I have discovered an ingenious way of keeping my older daughter entertained for a few moments when I am unavailable. She LOVES to be read to. In fact, she could probably be read to for hours on end. So, I have started recording myself reading to her. Just short picture books. I am not doing this in my spare time (haha for "spare"). So the recordings aren't perfect; but now when she wants a book read to her, I can pull the recording out from last time we read it together and she can follow along again.

My Busy 3 Year Old

2011-08-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

As much as I am a home-body, I am really beginning to dread the cooler months and being stuck indoors! Even now, we sense autumn in the air here in Quebec City. The crispness in the night, the cooler breeze. My three year old is so active and, being a boy, definitely different than my daughter when she was three! I have to say, I wasn't really sure what people meant when they said boys are so different than girls when I only had Faith. Yes! It's true. He is so different. I have been doing a lot of looking online for indoor activities for boys his age and I just kind of laugh at them (after feeling completely exhausted by the idea of actually getting messy or putting that much effort into something) because I can't imagine him actually being into it. As much as I would love to cover our kitchen table in paper and have the kids finger paint or something, I don't think it would take long before paint was everywhere and possibly being thrown at the other! (Initiated by 'you know who'). He likes to sit and have books read to him for short periods of time... but still spends a lot his time going from one thing to another, wrecking his older sister's stuff, and taking something from the younger....
Hm. He really is a sweet little boy, but his louder nature tends to get him trouble often.
Any suggestions?

2011-08-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

Today we started our second read-aloud for Kindergarten. After completing The Boxcar Children (the first read-aloud chapter book), both Faith and I were pretty anxious to get started on the next book. Faith absolutely loved listening to the Boxcar Children and would often be left "hanging" after finishing a chapter. I particularly enjoyed leaving her in suspense, excited about continuing the next day.

We bought these mats that you can piece together for the kids quiet "blanket time." But Faith prefers to build structures out of them (when the others are in nap-time). She decided to build a boxcar one afternoon, so we finished the novel inside. It was very fun!

Gearing Up

2011-08-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

So even though we have already (very casually) been doing some school activities through July and August, I am still "gearing up" to officially start homeschooling this September. I am working through expectations, and.... well, lowering them! As much as I won't start the school year already giving up, I refuse to start the year with high ideals and unrealistic schedules. Kindergarten is supposed to be fun, and fun we will have! If we don't get everything on the list done in the day, that's okay. If it takes us two weeks to complete one week's worth of school, that's fine too.

It has been interesting trying to accomplish a "little" bit of school this summer. I started out just wanting more activities for Faith to keep herself occupied with. With that, I also got a taste of how difficult it is going to be to fit school into our already jam packed schedule. We don't have any extra-curriculars, it's just normal every day living that keeps us so busy! Who would have thought 4 children five years and under could leave me with little choice of what to do with time available? hahaha. Schooling Faith is easy enough. It's occupying my busy 3 year old son and 2 year old daughter who desperately wants to do what everybody else is doing. Oh yes, and then the new little one. He has his own demands.

This season of life has brought on so many changes, my head is spinning at times. Our move to Quebec (and all the change leaving your former home town and family brings) along with a new family member, starting French school myself... and... well, I find much encouragement from other blogs of mothers who are either on the mission field as well and/or homeschooling and keeping house and occupying young children. That, and the little time I actually get to spend in the Word soaking up God's promises to me about strength and grace. Oh boy, grace------do I ever need it.

My Babies

2011-07-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

A Renewed Call

2011-07-25T03:51:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since keeping this blog up-to-date and real. So in an effort to shed some light on the reality of our situation, I'm blogging here again. Plus, it's a good way for me to keep a journal going. We have moved to Quebec City now in order to begin French language school before our big move to Madagascar. It was so hard to say good bye to family and friends, and our home is still sitting empty with no buyer. We are praying God brings a buyer soon! Quebec City is unlike any part of Canada I've ever experienced. It truly is a different culture, and the language is no exception. We have only been here 12 days, and loneliness is starting to set in. Homesickness is welling up inside of me. My life is so busy with the little ones--you would think a quiet lonely time would be something I would long for! My personal quiet time with the Lord has been shoved aside, and that is also starting to take its toll. I just can't seem to find time. My children are getting up 'uber' early! This morning they woke at 5:55, and it seems like if I can't make time in the morning, it doesn't really happen at all. Well last night, I turned on some worship music by Michael W. Smith, and it must have been just what the Lord wanted for me, because I literally listened to my heart's cry through his song Here I Am. As I listened to this song, God calling on our family's life became real again. I don't anticipate this homesickness and loneliness to go away or get easier, but I have a renewed sense of why we're here. And why we gave up what we did back home.

There's a place where I can go
Where the angels hear me pray
I want to change
Yes I need Your touch
I'm waiting here for You
And I fall, at Your feet
I'll give it all, until the day we meet
Here I am
Ready to give up my life for the One
Here I am
Ready to pour out my heart for the Son
Here I am
Here I come to Your threshing floor
Where the angels fear to tread
I'm waiting here for the King of love
And to hold the hands that bled
And I fall, at Your feet
I'll give it all, until the day we meet
Here I am
Ready to give up my life for the One
Here I am
Ready to pour out my heart for the Son

Here we are, sitting in our apartment in Quebec City getting used to the 30+ weather with humidity around 80% making it feel more like 40 degrees out.

Just Sayin'

2011-07-24T05:02:00.001-07:00

I really want to start writing here again more regular....

I definitely under estimated the busyness of having four kids 5 and under!!

In The Garden

2011-06-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a chance to capture some of the beautiful flowers in my mother-in-law's garden. Despite the lack of good weather this month, the flowers have been blooming. We are all wondering where summer is.
I am looking forward to taking pictures of the flora in Madagascar next year!

STOP Big Changes Ahead

2011-06-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

We just returned from visiting my hometown and my family. Even though we managed to see 60 or more people, it was a restful time, believe it or not. So we have said "Good-bye for now" as big changes are ahead for our family. In three short weeks we will make our first move to Quebec, and then after six months of language training, we will carry on to Madagascar. You can follow more of our journeys into ministry overseas at our blog here.

While we were on the island we attended my parents' church. The pastor's sermon really encouraged me because he spoke on the passages where Jesus calls the first disciples and God calling Abraham to leave his country. Only two days before, I read these passages in my personal quiet time.

My mom encouraged me to start keeping track of answers to prayer and confirmations of God's leading in our lives. I have had people encourage me in this way before, but I haven't been very good at it so far. As well, with the arrival of my little one only a month ago, I've been somewhat neglecting regular quiet time. I am thankful for this awakening. And also humbled by God's faithfulness and grace. In my neglect, He still hasn't failed to encourage me through His Word in that time when I DID open it and read.

Baby Time Again - And It's A Boy!

2011-05-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

For the 4th time, it is baby time! Little Calvin arrived on May 16th weighing 7 lbs 1 oz. We are so excited to welcome another son (and little brother) into our family.

Here we are checked into the maternity ward waiting to deliver. We arrived at the hospital bright and early at 7:00.

My oldest - so excited to meet another brother!

Three of our four blessings :)

New Book Starting

2011-04-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

So in my last post I linked to an article by Sally Clarkson, and ironically the next book I was led to begin reading is called Ministry of Motherhood written by her! It still hasn't arrived in my mailbox, but I am really looking forward to this book and reading it alongside many other women as part of a summer book club at Good Morning Girls.

This book club is scheduled to begin on May 23rd -- perfect timing for me as I recover from the birth of the baby! Which, by the way, is only 3 weeks away now!

This is Tough

2011-04-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

Baby number 4 is due to arrive in 6 weeks. And I always seem to forget how taxing the last month or so of pregnancy is on the emotions! Not to mention, along with the arrival of this baby, we are also preparing to sell our house, move across the country, pack belongings into a crate to ship to Madagascar, and settle in for a 6 month crash course in learning French! Oh yeah, and doing this away from the familiarity of our hometown, our extended family, and close friends that we love as family!

As my tummy continues to grow, my comfort level continues to decrease, and my capacity to be somewhat emotionally stable (haha) SEVERELY decreases, we have officially entered what moms of young children call "survival mode". When we are not in the heat of a difficult situation, it is a little easier for me to step back and recognize God's hand as He prepares us for tougher circumstances. (Which I firmly believe don't just come upon missionaries!) Again, I am reminded what He wants from me. My heart; my absolute dependence, and my obedience. As our pastor said from the pulpit a couple of weeks ago (and I cannot quote), life brings suffering. It's pretty simple. Not easy; yet simple. I am just experiencing life right now.

Are you experiencing Life right now?

After publishing this post - I came across another post by Sally Clarkson (Christian author) shared by a friend on Facebook. I just have to post the link, because it really ministered to me, and I hope it might also minister to you.

http://www.itakejoy.com/walking-through-soul-darkness/

Working and Resting

2011-03-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

Since returning from the UK for a cross-cultural training course last month, I have devoured a book called Working From a Place of Rest by Tony Horsfall. He has worked with MAF missionaries for years in pastoral care, specifically visiting those families serving the northern Africa region.

Exhaustion, burnout, tiredness, even breakdown... sadly, such conditions are all too common these days, not least among those involved in some kind of Christian ministry, whether full-time, part-time or voluntary. In striving to do our utmost for God, we can easily forget that there were many times when Jesus himself was willing to rest, to do nothing except wait for the Spirit's prompting, so that he demonstrated the vital principle of 'working from a place of rest'.

This season of my life as a mom of 3 young children, and another soon to arrive, could hardly be described as restful! And being a wife and mother is definitely full time ministry. So how does one balance all of these responsibilities and call it working from a place of rest? The house would literally become unglued if I simply stopped doing laundry and cooking meals! Perhaps us as moms need to redefine 'rest'. Not too long ago I was asking for prayer in this area of finding rest in the busyness of life, and a good friend asked me what that rest might look like for me. The question caught me off guard a bit! Being away from my children isn't the answer for me, going away on vacation and all of the work that encompasses is hardly restful either. Even having a good night sleep hasn't answered my problems (though it definitely alleviates some). The quiet rest I need must be the intimate spiritual connection of my relationship with Christ. Being focused on him throughout the day and prioritizing the day's needs and responsibilities according to His will.

If we are too busy to rest, it is because we are driving ourselves too hard. In his kingdom, we can walk with calmness because he is in control. If we are rushed and harassed, it is because we ourselves are trying to make things happen. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't manage our time well or seek to work efficiently. It simply means that we use our time and establish our priorities from a different value system. We give our time back to God, for him to apportion as he desires. (Pg. 60)

This sounds very nice, it is so much harder to practice. It comes down to our ability to trust in God and the plans He has for our lives. Perhaps we make our lives too complicated sometimes? I actually enjoy keeping a tidy house; it makes me feel good to be on top of the laundry pile (mostly), and I would say one of my hobbies is finding ways to make more things from scratch (frugality, and for health reason). But these things can add stress to my day and perhaps take me away from that which is most important at that moment: Training my children up in the Lord, playing with toys on the floor with them, and relaxing with books on the couch together. Fresh bread, homemade yogurt, etc.... those things can be put on hold.

Being still and waiting for the Lord to guide my steps is the pathway to restfulness.

Being Tempted - Good Gifts

2011-01-29T18:40:00.000-08:00

James 1:12-18 is the Scripture I focused on this week during the James study happening over at GoodMorningGirls.org.

These verses talk about temptation, and our own evil desires causing us temptation and being dragged away and then of course, birthing sin.

When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." (Vs. 13-15)

This caused me to think about what my desires were that would be causing me temptation, thus leading to ungodliness and sin! Surprisingly, as I reflected on these verses, I found myself thinking on all of the expectations I place on others in my life and how that causes me to be tempted to feel certain ways that are sinful. I went through each category of people in my life, my children, my husband, my extended family, my friends, and even the church. If you're unsure of what I'm talking about - take for instance my expectation that my husband would anticipate and be more sensitive to my needs, thus helping out without me necessarily asking. Holding this expectation over him is setting myself up for disappointment, (not that he is completely insensitive), anger, feeling "owed", etc. It's inappropriate to expect him to live up to that expectation. He will fail me, as I will fail him.

As we begin to filter things through God's Word and put His thoughts into our minds, He changes and molds our desires to align into His design. James goes on to say in verses 16 and 17 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
As much as I may feel my desires are right, or appropriate, or maybe godly, don't be deceived! Every good thing comes from God. He will give me the desires of my heart as I align my thinking with His Word and His heart.

Count it all Joy

2011-01-20T13:50:00.000-08:00

It must be providential that God has me in the book of James right now. After each of us taking turns being sick a couple of weeks ago, and then recovered, we find some of us sick again. You know you're the mom of young kids when it seems there's a perpetual bug going around.

As well, part of me is feeling especially anxious because my husband and I are preparing to leave them for 2 weeks (with Grandparents) and go to England for more MAF training. If you know me, you will know that even the thought of leaving them for that long is difficult, and the idea that they may not be 100% healthy is even more unbearable to me.

But the Lord says, "Count it all joy when you face trials of many kinds." (James 1:2) I was encouraged by another blogger as she observed James specifically says when. There is no question that life is going to bring trials. No ifs, simply when. And what is the purpose of these trials? Surely we do not happen upon trials simply for making our lives interesting. There is a divine purpose to our trials [of many kinds]. And James also doesn't specify the severity of our trials. It can be anything that causes us to feel uneasy, stressed, anxious, scared, tired, or angry. (And the list probably goes on.) The trial also doesn't have to be universally difficult for everyone. Something I find difficult in my life may be a "peace of cake" for you, or vice versa.

Usually when a trial comes our way we find ourselves wanting help, or a way out, or a resource of some kind to ease the uncomfortableness. James assumes that trials will test our faith, and very often that is the case. Perhaps without verbalizing it we wonder things like "Where is God now?" "I thought He loved me." "Why is this happening to me?" When our faith is tested this way and we ask questions like this, they demand answers.

"because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." James 1:2-6

Purpose of the Trial: Tests our faith to (hopefully) develop perseverance (character building)

Help we need to ask for: Spiritual wisdom (discernment) founded on God's truth, the Bible.

What we need to DO: After asking for wisdom, we need to keep believing in God's truth--study it, meditate upon it, so we stay rooted and founded on something sure.

So, if trials cause us to go back to God's Word and stand even more solidly upon His promises and instruction, that will give us Joy! We can rejoice in knowing God wants to equip us, God wants to strengthen us, and God ultimately wants to be glorified through us as we take steps to trust in Him more day by day.

p r i o r i t i e "S"

2011-01-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

S - Sabbaths (time out to get refreshed, regain perspective, reflect, re-evaluate, re-prioritize), and stay sensitive and surrendered to the Spirit of God

We know that God rested on the 7th day after He Created the heavens and earth. We know that He created a sabbath day of rest for us. A necessary part of setting priorities is creating time to rest and refocus. To stop and reflect on what is happening around us, to regain proper perspective according to what God is telling us as we stay sensitive and surrendered to His spirit.

As a mother it's difficult to think about having a proper "rest" time. A complete day may be out of the question! But short quiet moments in my day and week do come. Those times when the children are content and busily occupying themselves, the peace at nighttime when they are tucked into bed, and maybe even a quiet bath when daddy is watching them. To stop and ponder what God is doing in our lives, when we have these quiet moments is so important.

Perhaps the above acronym definition should be reversed---Stay sensitive and surrendered to the Spirit of God so we don't miss the opportunities to take advantage of those Sabbath moments.

"...ask the Lord at the start of your day to direct your day, to order your steps. Then throughout the day, be listening." --- Nancy Leigh DeMoss

It boils down to who and what we place our trust in, doesn't it? If we are trusting the Lord in regards to the interruptions in our paths, in the opportunities that present themselves---if we submit or yield ourselves to Him, we will find that spirit of rest.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." --- Jesus Christ in Matthew 11:28

"Yes, my soul finds rest in God; my hope comes from Him." --- Psalm 62:5

"This is what the Lord says, "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." --- Jeremiah 6:16

p r i o r i t i "E" s

2011-01-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

E - Experience this season and this moment fully

Talking about managing time and choosing activities right for the particular season of life we are presently in demands that we: discern what that season is, and then learn to experience that season and the moments in it to the fullest.

Living in the past wastes time, and dwelling on what may or may not happen in the future also saps our energy and again, wastes time.

"Ask God as you're in whatever the season is to make you a woman of joy, a woman who is full of the Holy Spirit and who fully enters into whatever experience God has given you at that time." -- Nancy Leigh DeMoss

p r i o r i t "I" e s

2011-01-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

My study on Priorities is due to a series of talks Nancy Leigh DeMoss has on her website ReviveOurHearts.com . If you are interested in listening to them yourself, go to the website and then look for programs that aired the week after Christmas 2010.

I - Identify Time Robbers

There have been several wonderful points brought out in the process of figuring out right priorities. After thinking about making the most of the time we have, it's important to identify those things in our life that our wasting our time. Again, they may not be wrong things in and of themselves, but they may be the wrong for this particular season. What are these "time robbers" that may be keeping us from doing what is truly important now? Identifying them may be easy enough, but elimating them? This is going to need supernatural help from God!

Some suggestions for "time robbers" may be:
Television
Internet/Computer
Phone
Novels/Magazines
People
Our Children's extracurriculars
Bad attitudes

Now none of these, except the last, are necesarily wrong things, but they can easily clutter life and keep us from doing what is most important at that moment.

Seek God and ask Him what He wants you to be spending your time doing in your season.

Making the Most of those Moments

2011-01-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

As I've been thinking about priorities and what I want to focus on this year I was challenged by another blogger about cuddling children and playing with them! I'm not very good at getting down on the floor and playing with my kids, as much as I love watching them play, but I was challenged in these two ways:

Stop for 5 minutes every hour and PLAY with your children
Spend 15 minutes cuddling each child every day

These are definitely part of my priority list as I try and make better use of time in the day. I haven't been successful at these every day, but thinking on them and focusing on them has helped me stop more often in my day and enjoy those simple moments with each child. It's amazing what one can do in 5 minutes! And how happy it can make life.

p r i o r i "T" i e s

2011-01-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Pray
Review
Inventory
Order
Resist
Input
Take advantage of the time given to you.

Learn to redeem the time--make the most of every opportunity.

Ephesians 5:15-17 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Consider the contrast in how wise people spend their time versus the foolish:

Wise person makes decisions and thinks about eternity, while the foolish live for the moment with little thought of the future.
The foolish person lives for themselves, while the wise lives for the glory of God and others.
The wise person is thoughtful and intentional, but the foolish is careless with their time and tends to react to life.

You may be able to think of some practical ways you can begin practicing to stop wasting the valuable opportunities God gives you to do things that are really important. We spend a lot of time waiting, waiting for our children, waiting in the doctors office, waiting on hold (on the phone) maybe. Perhaps there are activities you could pack along with you to make those "waiting" moments more valuable and productive.

p r i o r "I" t i e s

2011-01-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

Pray
Review
Inventory
Order
Resist
Input--get input from people in your life: people you trust

Ask your husband what his priorities are. "On my list of "to-do's" what would you consider the most important?" The Bible is pretty clear that as wives we are to make our husbands priorities our own.

If he finds something important, it should be important to us.

p r i o "R" i t i e s

2011-01-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

Pray
Review
Inventory
Order
Resist the tyranny of the urgent

Back to the matter of prayer: We need to pray for God to give us wisdom to be able to discern the difference between importance and urgency. In Matthew 23 we see the Pharisees focusing a lot of attention on important and obvious things--tithing, etc., while they missed the important things. Jesus pointed out to them in verse 23 that they missed justice, mercy, and faithfulness. He says, "You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former." So Jesus isn't saying that the activities they were doing were wrong, but he explained they had their priorities mixed up. They missed the important things.
Many many of us can say we are really busy, and legitimately so. Perhaps we even use the phrase "too busy." Being busy doesn't necessarily mean that we're busy with important things. Consider that we can be very busy doing things that are unimportant when ordered around what God considers important for His glory and for eternity.

Satan is trying very hard to keep us busy and to prevent us from doing what is truly important. In Nehemiah 6:3 some men were trying to distract Nehemiah from continuing his responsibility on the city wall. Nehemiah knew what to say to this distraction:

"I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down."

After 5 persistent requests to come down, Nehemiah prays in verse 9

"Now strengthen my hands."

We need to be praying for God to lead us to put effort into the important things, and then we need to pray for endurance and commitment!

Another example Nancy Leigh DeMoss highlights is in the Gospel of John when Jesus finds out about the death of Lazarus. Jesus, rather than rushing to him to do the urgent thing: keep him from dying, he waited and did the important thing: raised Lazarus from the dead. And in waiting and focusing on what God wanted him to do, Jesus was able to something great and bring glory to His Father!

If you haven't visited Revive Our Hearts website and looked at their resources or listened to the teaching. Click here!

p r i "O" r i t i e s

2011-01-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Pray
Review God's priorities in His Word
Inventory; take inventory, look at our schedule

Order our schedule and activities to God's priorities for our lives

We need to be careful that our priorities determine our schedule and NOT the other way around.

Psalm 119:133 Order my steps by your Word.

p r "I" o r i t i e s

2011-01-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

Pray
Review God's priorities in His Word
Inventory

As we set priorities, we need to take inventory of our current responsibilities and activities. Look at your current schedule.
1: Make a list of all of your responsibilities
2: Make a time log and keep track of how you spend your time for a whole week

As we take inventory of our current activities it may be helpful to ask the following questions about each item on your our lists:
Q. Is this something that God wants me or our family to be doing at this season of life? You and I may be involved in some very good activities, but they may not be appropriate during this stage or season of life. Perhaps we need to wait to invest better quality time, when we can make those particular activities a priority.
Q. Am I involved in any activities currently that are not on God's agenda for this season of my life?
Q. Have I accepted any responsibilities that I didn't inquire of the Lord first?
Q. What are my motives? Am I doing these things for the right reasons? Or is it out of guilt? Peer pressure? To please others rather than God? All that matters is "Is God pleased?"

The following quote from Nancy Leigh DeMoss may stir up some passionate feelings, but consider it against what scripture says and then react accordingly:
"One of the many reasons for stress in women's lives today is that they are wives and mothers who are also trying to juggle a career or a job outside of the home." She doesn't end her thought there though; she goes on to explain you may be in a difficult position: single parent, disabled spouse, etc. But if you are currently re-evaluating your priorities, take each activity and responsibility to the Lord with an open and willing heart to change. He will direct your steps and give you the wisdom you need.
Many have bought into this lie that we can do it all.

God didn't make us to do everything.

Priorities

2011-01-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

You may be doing some reorganizing or re-prioritizing for the new year. It seems the new year is often the time when people reflect on the past year and then decide to make changes.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss has begun a new series on Priorities. Interestingly, she first talks about the word "Priorities" and mentions that it is a word only used more recently in the past 100 years. Prior to 100 years ago people simply used the word priority, suggesting they didn't have hundreds of things competing for their attention. People knew what was supposed to be top, and it was keeping that one thing on top that was the challenge. Now it seems that we are trying to rediscover what our top priority is supposed to be. And being a woman almost confuses the issue further as the worldly culture around us screams that we can have it all! In fact, we should have it all! This quest for having it all may be clouding our perspective about is truly important. Maybe our families are being left behind as we strive to have what we believe will make us truly happy or satisfied.

Finding out what our priority should be from Scripture isn't that cryptic or difficult at all. It isn't different for everybody, it isn't complicated.

As Nancy Leigh DeMoss goes through this series on Priorities, she has created an acronym to help us remember key points in a particular order.
P - pray and seek the Lord
R - review and receive God's priorities for my life

Can you guess how the rest of the acronym is going to go?

The number one priority on our list should be our relationship or walk with God and then other things will follow and be in order as He has designed them to be.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind.

Matt 6: Seek first the Kingdom of God

Prov. 4:7 Get wisdom (God's wisdom)

Col. 1:18 Christ is supreme, head over all

Psalm 27:4 Dwell in the house of the Lord, live in the presence of God

Consider this, if you don't have time get alone with God in His Word, than you are too busy. What is cluttering your life right now? What is your top priority based on how you spend your time, and what you talk about?

As a wife and mother, God is pretty clear to explain to us what our job description should look like.

1: Our relationship with God and our character

2: Relationship with our husband

3: Household and children

4: Ministry outreach to others in our community and/or church

I'm going to leave it here for now. If you are interested in hearing what Nancy Leigh DeMoss has to say about having godly priorities, go to her website reviveourhearts.com and click on broadcast. You can go back several days or weeks if you have missed episodes and wish to start from the beginning.

Moving Away From the Familiar

2011-01-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

Open my eyes that I may see

wonderful things in your law.

I am a stranger on earth;

do not hide your commands from me.

My soul is consumed with longing

for your laws at all times.
Psalm 119:18-20

I have been slowly working my way through Psalm 119. Slowly meaning, a couple verses every now and then! I shouldn't be surprised at God's timing, but once again He has supplied fitting spiritual food during this Christmas season. This Christmas in particular, I have felt sad by the fact that this year we plan to leave all that is familiar to us: our wonderful extended family, our home, our church family, amenities we probably take for granted... certain possessions. The list probably goes on. Over the last couple of years, my perspective has turned more toward the eternal, but I am finding myself having to go there even more! I am so thankful for this reminder in Psalms and elsewhere in Scripture (Hebrews 11) that earth is not our permanent home. We are aliens here. As much as we may desire to belong somewhere, or make "home" wherever we are on earth, we will never belong here on earth. God created us as eternal beings, and we will end up in an eternal place. And we are told, very clearly, that the earth is not it.

So why do I sometimes resist what is unfamiliar? Why do I crave a sense of belonging somewhere? Why do I see people spending their lives building treasures on earth when we will end up moving away from it ultimately?

In Hebrews, after the writer honors some faithful OT patriarchs for their faith, he says, "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were looking for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." (Heb. 11:13-16)

These passages have caused me to ask these questions:

Do I think of my home here as temporary?

Am I seeking to build something of great value here on earth?

Do I have a heavenly eternal view?

Do my traditions, "normals," sentimental thoughts, hinder me from looking forward to what God has prepared for me to do on earth?

What am I to do with my sentiments and nostalgia? Is it from God? Why do we have this strong emotional feeling? Is this something our culture feeds through the media and movies and songs? I don't want to grow old thinking about the "good old days," as so many do. How is dwelling on how good we thought life once was demonstrating our eternal longing for Jesus?

As I enter the new year with so many unknown ahead of me as our family follows God's calling into overseas missions in Madagascar, Africa - I want to practice having an eternal view! Our lives here are but a blink of an eye when compared to the everlasting life we have in Christ Jesus.

Maybe you have some thoughts on this....

2011 New Years Resolution, Dare I?

2011-01-03T14:08:00.000-08:00

Ok..... so my new year's resolution for 2011 is not going to be to blog everyday, but part of it does have to do with blogging more regularly!

Lately, I have found my personal time with God to be too personal for me to want to blog about, however, I do want to be 'realer' (if that can be classified as a word) on this blog this year. I have enjoyed hiding behind my blog at times. I have to say, it's nice to reveal the good things and keep the bad (or not so nice) behind closed doors. I have found that by blogging I have been able to portray someone who may not really be me! Perhaps as a fellow blogger you can relate?

Maybe I can sum up my New Year's resolution in two words:

Simply Real

Revisiting a Helpful Resource

2010-12-03T07:31:00.000-08:00

Over the last few weeks I have been re-reading "Created to Be His Help Meet" and it has been a huge challenge and blessing to me. It has also underlined how I feel toward the other book I have been reading, "Boundaries." I have struggled with this "Boundaries" book since the moment I bought it, and I may go into that a bit deeper later. But for now, I thought I would underline some points I have found particularly challenging and encouraging from the Help Meet book lately.

You cannot be pitiful enough to force your husband to love you.
You can practice joy and thanksgiving. Every day, every right response makes the fingers of your soul find the notes of joy and thanksgiving easier and easier.
Thankfulness is how you think; joy is the abundance it produces.
Discontentment is not a product of circumstances; it is the state of the soul.
Having hurt feelings and being angry are just different sides of the same controlling coin.
God entrusted to a man and his wife the opportunity as a married couple to be a living picture of this great mystery.

She is reverencing God by reverencing her husband, not because her husband is a fit representative of Christ, and not because he is a worthy substitute, but because God placed her in subjection to her husband.

A good marriage is good because one or both of them have learned to overlook the other's faults, to love the other as they are and not attempt to change them or bring them to repentance.
She is a fool to expect him to be a good husband when she is not being the help meet God has created her to be.
Deference to your man is the height of true femininity. It makes a woman beautiful, gracious and lovely to all.
A good help meet provides an oasis for her man.
"A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones." Proverbs 12:4
A wise woman gauges her husband's needs. She seeks to fulfill his desires before he's aware of them. She never leaves him daydreaming outside the home. She supplies his every desire.

Sourdough

2010-11-03T11:09:00.000-07:00

This is bread I baked this morning from a sourdough starter my mom gave me while we were visiting them last week! The starter is amazing; I have never used starter that actually rises well and gives the bread a true 'sourdough' flavor. Since reading up on sourdough bread I have learned that it is actually very good for you despite being made from white flour, which we typically think of being 'less healthful.' Sourdough bread contains good bacteria and also has a low glycemic index, which means it won't spike your blood sugar. Whole grain breads, I have just learned actually do spike your blood sugar and leave you feeling hungry shortly after, not to mention the plummeting energy level.

The two breads could probably be debated about which is better, but this one sure tastes yummy!

Homeschool Year 2010-2011

2010-11-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it's November 1st. I know I'm a little late. But, I am giving myself the liberty to be late in starting back into our preschool program. With baby number four on its way, helping my husband gather ministry partners through MAF, and caring for the needs of my other two small children (while trying to employ the help of my eldest), I think starting preschool two months late is perfectly fine. Mostly, I am thankful young children are sponges and tend to pick up things without me realizing it or trying very hard. (Which, may I mention, has worked negatively for me as well). I am also very thankful that at this stage of the game of "homeschool" there is much flexibility and time to develop style. No, for the record, I do not hope to start every school year practically before Christmas holidays begin!

I was browsing Sonlight's website tonight, honestly in hopes of becoming inspired to actually get down to business this year, and found myself practically drooling over next year's (Kindergarten) program! After closing the web browser, I cracked my preschool instructor's guide, sadly to find my sticky note on Week 18. Well, we are halfway there folks! So, we must begin now and faithfully continue through to Spring if we hope to finish our first curriculum of Sonlight.

I am very excited to see how God has orchestrated some of Sonlight's reading selections for our family. As we prepare to move to Africa, part of our preschool social studies program focuses its attention on a book called "Stories From Africa." To my surprise, this book even contains a story about a missionary pilot! How fantastic is that?!

How is your school year progressing so far?

Comfort for the Hurting

2010-10-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

It seems there's a theme of 'comfort' going on here. I have had the opportunity to try and be a comfort to a hurting friend. I pray it was encouraging to her. It is during those times that I feel the most insecure, which is really terrible because I should be thinking about the other person, not myself and how I feel! Why should I worry about how insecure I feel! It is more about, how would this person like to be comforted? What if I say too much? Too little? What if they just want a hug? It is when us or our friends are hurting that we really know we can't or shouldn't be self-sufficient. We were designed for relationships.

This morning I read some of God's promises. So this is for the hurting woman out there. A woman who has experienced loss, or disappointment; the woman who needs God's comfort.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me. (Ps. 23:4)
Show me your ways, O Lord teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Ps. 25:4-5)
The Lord is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? (Ps. 27:1)
Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. (Ps. 28:6-7)
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when i sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.... you are familiar with all my ways. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Search me O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Ps. 139)

If you have a hurting friend, pray and ask God to show you how you may comfort her.

A Note On Self-Sufficiency

2010-10-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

When you hear "Self-Sufficiency" it may cause you to think of gardening, supplying your own food source, being completely independent of any structured system, in control of your life, not needing others? Wow, as I write that list, I am becoming somewhat depressed. Imagine, if you will, becoming so self-sufficient you actually ceased to need relationships with others. That is not really the self-sufficiency I had originally thought of when starting this post, but if you spiraled far enough down into the realm of self-sufficiency, I suppose you may arrive there!

No, my thoughts on self sufficiency began after reading a section in Spiritual Mothering (Susan Hunt), where she talks about comfort in suffering. Receiving others' comfort, extending comfort to others, relying on God's comfort.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (2 Cor. 1:3-4)

There are a lot of "all"s in that passage of Scripture. That's because God leaves nothing out. He is the God of all comfort in all of our troubles. I don't know about you, but I have yet to find an earthly relationship or object that can do all of that for me the way God has promised He can.

Without suffering we cannot experience God's comfort. Have you ever pondered that one before? I often ask myself, why is this situation so difficult? Can't this pain just go away? This is really uncomfortable, I feel like I'm losing control! That's exactly it. Without reaching this point, we cannot experience God's comfort and then serve Him and glorify Him in it. This makes no sense whatsoever to the person whose life-purpose is not servanthood and giving God glory, but rather self-centered, self-sufficient focused. However, to the one who longs to imitate the Father, the One who suffered in our place, it makes perfect sense.

When my situation is beyond my self sufficiency, only then will I learn experientially the sufficiency of Christ in my life. And when I can learn that, I have a message of comfort that is real. Rather than telling others, "I did it; you can too!" I can offer a true promise, We were under great pressure, for beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us... (2Cor. 1:8-10)

But, What About Them, Lord?

2010-08-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

In Shannon Ethridge's book, "Every Woman's Marriage," she talks about 'making comparisons' as one of women's biggest battles in life!

Apparantly the Apostle Peter had the same battle, (John 21) because as Jesus was trying to tell him to minister to others, Peter asks Jesus "Well, what about Him, Lord?" as he points to John. To which Jesus responds, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" (Jn 21:22)

God's plan for others' lives is none of our business. God has a special plan for each of us, and we are not to compare. He has his own special purpose for His glory. "If I do 'such-and-such' for 'so-and-so, what is that to you? Follow me!" We are not to concern ourselves with comparing God's plan for our own life to His plan for another. "Just follow me" He says. Be obedient.

How often do we get sidetracked away from being obedient because we are focused on someone else's life?
-Why are they receiving those blessings?
-I wanted to do that.
-I wanted that blessing.

Now we are told to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice, but when it comes down to following Jesus in what He's called us to do this very day, irregardless of what we see others doing, how are we doing?

"But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge" -- Ps. 141.8

So, Who's Gonna Take Care of Me?

2010-08-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

I found myself asking this question during my morning Bible study (John 13), as I was convicted to become less self-seeking, rather kinder and more attentive towards others. As Jesus stooped down to wash his disciples dirty, grubby feet, what was he thinking? "This will teach them. Maybe now tomorrow they'll wash mine and give me a break!" I kind of doubt this was Jesus' attitude toward his service. Washing the disciples' feet was most certainly an example for the disciples, but he wasn't telling them appreciation would be returned if they served others. John 13: 17, "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." Blessed by others? It doesn't say that. I'm going to throw out there, Jesus means spiritual blessings. We are blessed when we obey God, simply for the sake of bringing glory to His name! As I try and teach my children to obey me, it's difficult to instill in them the reason they should obey. They sort of understand they should obey because it makes mommy happy, but at this point, it's not a huge motivator for them. I think it's the same for me! As much as I desire to please my Heavenly Father by obeying Him, I find myself more motivated to serve and love others in order to have them treat me a certain way in return. Who's gonna take care of me, if I'm running around serving everybody else? I have a feeling most wives/mothers have asked this question!
I am reminded of the Proverbs 31 Woman. She was so focused on others, she was blessed by God, and He satisfied her. She did not worry about herself. Now, I wouldn't advocate not taking care of yourself to the point of being un-showered, out of shape, sickly... you get the idea. We are called to take care of our bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit, yet we are not called to worship ourselves.
We need not say, Who's gonna take care of me? If we are trusting in our Heavenly Father to supply all of our needs, He will! He does not fail. He may not do for us everything we ever desire, but just as we do not give our children everything they ever want, He does what He knows is best for us.
So what is our motivation for loving others in a Christlike way? Simply (however, not so simple) to bring glory and honor to the name of our Lord and Savior. That is it.

I challenge you reader, love on your family and friends today to bring glory and honor to God! That's it! Do not put expectations on them. Just love them because "A new command I give you: Love one another. [...] By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35.

Ch 2 From Him, Through Him, To Him

2010-06-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

"The true woman who trusts God doesn't have to strive." pg. 42

How often have you ended your day and thought, "Wow, that was a total failure of a day. Could I have messed that one up more?"

When we are living life focused on God and the glory He desires to bring Himself, suddenly we aren't left having to strive anymore. A true woman trusts that her past failures are not beyond the reach of God's redeeming grace and that He will use those surrendered issues for His glory in His own way. Nothing is beyond His plan and repair. Martin Luther said this once, "God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick."

Living a God-centered life, rather than a me-centered life frees women from feeling like they have to have everything under control, and frees them from fear. It's all about Him! This morning in my quiet time I was struck afresh by Jesus' words to His Heavenly Father as he was crying out to God. "Now my heart is troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name." And then God said, "I have glorified it and will glorify it again." John 12:27-28

God's will and purpose remains the same. To glorify His name, and to glorify Himself. Afterall, "From him and through him and to him are ALL things. To him be the glory forever, amen!" Rom. 11:36

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Ch. 1 Ultimate Meaning of True Womanhood

2010-06-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

"In order to learn what it means to be a woman, we must start with the One who made her." Elisabeth Elliot

What is my purpose?
What is my role?
Why is life so difficult and challenging at times?

I'm sure you could think of dozens of other questions that plague women during life at one point or another. These questions seem tough. In fact, perhaps answerless (if that's a word).

They do have answers though! This first chapter of "True Womanhood" is focused upon what everything is all about. What is (or should be) central?

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True Woman Series

2010-06-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

I just received the book "True Woman" in the mail from Revive Our Hearts. It is a compilation of messages from the True Woman conference in 2008.

I hope to post my take on each of the nine chapters in the book. At a glance, it looks fantastic, with contributors including John Piper and Joni Erickson Tada!

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Taking a Break

2010-06-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

I will be taking a break from this mommy blog for a while and instead posting to our Family Blog. I invite you to check out the updates there and to change your bookmark to mafbarbers.blogspot.com.

See you there!

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Gathering Around a Good Book

2010-05-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

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Simple Days

2010-05-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

A reminder of simple days. Where my biggest problems are another dirty diaper, or an "owie" to kiss all better. I need this reminder now and again. Enjoy the long-weekend!

The Best Medicine - No Greater Joy Ministries

2010-05-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Another article that I found encouraging this month is located at the link below.

"The best child training medicine I know is a heart that overflows with a consuming desire to give children pleasure. Our training can’t stop there, but neither can it begin anywhere else. It must be part of the image of God within us―that desire to bring pleasure to children, to make their lives fascinating and full of joy. They are so easy to delight. ... For the full article: The Best Medicine - No Greater Joy Ministries

This issue of No Greater Joy Ministries magazine had many encouraging articles in it. It can be found online here: http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/magazine/

You've Plunged A Long Way, Baby

2010-05-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

I almost couldn't stop myself from cheering aloud as I read this article. Thought it should be shared.

We’ve been hearing a lot of caterwauling lately from the radical feminist groups (calling themselves “women’s groups” in a desperate attempt at legitimacy) ...

If you doubt, let’s look at what feminist groups have been championing: ...

(For the whole article go to: You've Plunged a Long Way, Baby!)

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Annoying Roller Coaster / Lesson on Willingness

2010-05-18T16:52:00.000-07:00

One Day: MAF says, "We would like you to go to ..."
Same day we think/say: "We're not going there! Too scary, we didn't want to go there at all. What are we doing? Lord, are we really supposed to go?"
Couple of days later: "Okay, God, we'll go there."
A little later: "Wow, we would actually be excited to go there!"
And still a little later on: MAF says, "At this time, the need isn't there after all."

Back to square one...

I think God is trying to teach Rob and I to be willing. The Lord has His own ways to prepare hearts for His service. He also has the wisdom, of course, to use baby steps and ways that we can handle! Praise the Lord for that!

The waiting game continues. Where are we going?

Almost A New Chapter

2010-05-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

Finally, after nearly a month of absence, I have sat myself down to update this blog. During my "non-blogging" days, we traveled to and from the MAF Canada headquarters in Guelph, Ontario. It was the first time we have taken any of our children on an airplane, and I think they did pretty well. I didn't have much time to consider how uncomfortable or bored I was, because I had somebody in my arms nearly the whole time. It was amazing though, because the two longer flights, from Calgary to Kitchener had empty seats on them. So we had a couple of extra spots for Wesley and Joyanne for a little while.

We had a wonderful time meeting the staff at Headquarters, and the facility where they held the training was lovely as well. It was sunny nearly the entire two weeks, and the best part... I didn't have to cook for two weeks! Rob's mom came along to look after the kids, of which we are so very thankful. Especially since Faith, Wes and "Oma" ended up sick with a stomach bug for a few days each. We met a few other very nice couples, who we will hopefully see again during this deputation time.

Our days were full! Breakfast was at 7:45 and we were in class by 8:30. Usually we ended our day by 3:30, and on some of the days we had homework to prepare for the next day. We were briefed on MAFs history, and the deputation process, and the logistical things of serving with Mission Aviation Fellowship. We also spent a fair bit of time preparing public speaking presentations, of which we were able to practice in front of each other. That was a stretching experience for all of us! It was comforting to know we were all equally shy.

So this starts a new chapter in our lives... almost. There is so much to do here at home before we start our deputation full time. But we have begun, part time. We arrived back, and were greeted by our massive reno project. The amount of work left overwhelmed both of us. Until next time...

Dandelions

2010-04-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

This Spring we have visited this park many times. There is no playground to climb on but many dandelions to pick and a huge sandbox to play in.

This knit sweater was a gift from "Oma."

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My Baby Is 4 Today

2010-04-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

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Deep Dish Skillet Pizza

2010-04-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

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At the Park

2010-04-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

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Dutch Baby

2010-04-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

These are so yummy and super easy! A great alternative to traditional pancakes or waffles, without having to babysit the fry pan.

These are known by a few different names: German pancake, puff pancake, Dutch baby...
In my mind, it is simply and GIANT yorkshire pudding! Yum!

1/3 cup Butter/Margarine
5 Eggs
1 1/4 cups Milk
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour

Preheat oven to 425.
While oven is heating, melt butter in a cast iron skilled on the stovetop. (You may also use a glass baking dish and melt your butter in the dish in the oven.)

In a blender, blend together eggs, milk, flour and vanilla extract. Once butter is melted and oven has preheated, pour batter into the cast iron skillet.

Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, or until center is cooked.
Serve with sliced apples or fresh blueberries and maple syrup.

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Lists

2010-04-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

We are in the process of compiling a list of people to put on our contact list for Mission Aviation Fellowship. These folks will receive our prayer card and newsletter from MAF.

If you would like to be a part of this mailing list contact us with your mailing address and phone number! We would be delighted to have you partner with us in prayer for the ministry.

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Whole Wheat Thins Please

2010-04-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Another yummy cracker recipe and my kids and I gobbled up the other day!

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 tsp ea of salt, and any other seasoning blend (like Mrs. Dash or garlic and herbs), baking powder, yeast
3 Tb Extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 400

Dissolve yeast in warm water with oil. Combine dry ingredients and then mix wet with dry to form a soft dough.

Roll out super thin, as thin as you can! Place on parchment lined baking sheet and then use a pizza cutter or other small cutter to cut squares into dough. Squares about 2" x 2". No need to separate, they will break apart after you bake them.

Bake for about 20 minutes. You may check on them at 18 minutes and remove any outside crackers that are getting too dark to allow the middle ones to brown up more.
They will have some bend to them when they come out of the oven, but will crisp up more and more as they cool.

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Homemade Rye Animal Crackers

2010-04-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe on another blog; it was adapted from King Arthur Flour's recipe for rye crackers. And I have adapted it again.

1 cup whole rye flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon molasses

Preheat oven to 325

In a large bowl sift or whisk together flours, cocoa powder, and salt. Cut in butter until it resembles course crumbs.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, blend water and molasses. Gradually stir water mixture with the dry ingredients and knead to form a soft dough. You may need to add a couple drops more of water.

Divide ball into 3 even pieces - working with one piece at a time. Keep other pieces covered. Roll out each piece of dough on a well floured surface. Turn often to keep from sticking. Roll to 1/16" thick; about the thickness of a quarter.

Cut dough with small cookie cutters, (2" x 2") or into small squares. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake until crackers begin to turn crisp, about 18-25 minutes. They will crisp up further as they cool. Move crackers to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Life!

2010-04-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

Rob planted grass in our front yard almost 2 weeks ago. This was a big milestone on our lot. It means we are finished demolishing! We are officially landscaping now. It has been pouring rain ever since, so we were afraid the seeds may have drowned! Aha! Life has sprung! They survived!

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It's Just..... it's because....

2010-03-31T09:13:00.000-07:00

Blogging has taken a bit of a backseat over the past couple of weeks because of things coming up with MAF and, well, life in general.

These last few days, perhaps weeks, the Lord has been showing me how, more often than not, I blame my bad attitude on outside circumstances. I am quick to justify the harsh way I speak to my children or my husband. It's just because we have so much on the go. It's the house! If the house were finished I'd have less on my mind! What about all that reading we have to do? The never-ending piles of mess in my house, are cluttering my mind too! It's just that I am anticipating huge changes in the future!

Enough excuses Karina! I am believing the lie, that if my circumstances were different, I'd be different! There will always be a difficult circumstance in my life. It's about time I actually take responsibility for my bad attitude and shortness with everybody who lives with me.

Morning's Thoughts

2010-03-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul- then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil.
Deut 11:13-14

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Ruined Stock

2010-03-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

I was disappointed to find this in my freezer! Two recently frozen jars of homemade chicken stock. I was surprised this happened; I specifically made sure NOT to fill them too full because I have had this happen to me before with pea soup.

Out of Africa

2010-03-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

The link to the blog below is one that my sister-in-law has set up to share their story about adopting from Zambia. They are headed to Africa to foster a set of twin baby girls this Spring and also help with a building project at Seeds of Hope Children's Orphanage.

thejourneytoourkids.blogspot.com

Check it out!

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The Betrayal - Friday's Peak Into the Archives

2010-03-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

As we prepare for this Easter season I thought I'd re-share this post from Easter in 2008.

(Original Post: The Betrayal)

Being Palm Sunday, I thought I would blog about my Bible study last week. I was studying Mark, and the events leading up to Christ's death and resurrection. It never ceases to surprise me that I am struck with awe and a new sense of love for my Savior when I ponder these events and consider the life-changing impact on my life on earth and my spiritual destiny!

The portion of the Bible study that really struck me last week was in Mark 14 and the whole betrayal. I would assume Judas Iscariot comes to your minds immediately, but this time consider this: all of Christ's disciples betrayed him! Their fear and anxiety surrounding the events of that day were enough to drive them away from Christ. And for Peter, even claim he knew the Christ personally!

The question I was left pondering after I read this scripture was, How have I betrayed the Lord in word or deed lately? Ouch. Somehow it's much easier to judge those disciples and think, "What a bunch of unfaithful cowards Jesus' closest friends were!" Let's examine ourselves this time and consider ways we've been unfaithful to our Lord.

Zechariah 1:3 "[...] 'Return to me,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' [...]"

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Preschool Update

2010-03-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Preschool has been on and off the last few months with the arrival of the new baby, and Christmas. Yes, I know Christmas was 2 months ago. However, I am no less excited about our Sonlight Preschool program that we have been picking away at.

For science they had us work through The Berenstain Bears Big Book of Science and Nature! That book was great! So much fun information put into poetry form to make it even more exciting to read!

They taught us about Seasons, Geology, Classification of Species, Matter, Energy, Simple Machines.

It was great! Wouldn’t you know it, though, Faith asked me why the mirror was all foggy after my shower and I couldn’t even explain it like a “real” homeschool mom! Haha. :) Perhaps we’ll leave the science explanations up to daddy.

We are now finished with the Big Book of Science and Nature and moved along to The Year at Maple Hill Farm. This book is really nice too. It focuses solely on the months of the year and what is happening on the farm in which months.

Faith is completely absorbing any information I give her about letters and sounds! She is so eager to learn. Exciting!?

We are also keeping up with the Bible memory work the Sonlight program has given us. This week’s verse was:

“A father punishes a son he delights in to make him better.” Proverbs 3:12.

Even though the day’s school workload probably takes a mere 30 minutes to complete, I have found it is best to spread it out over the entire day! In the morning we typically review the memory verse while I’m preparing breakfast, then we read the Bible story for that day.

As spare moments pop up during the day, and I sense Faith needing that one-on-one time with me, we sit and read something from her school schedule. I have been leaving her workbook for her to do while I prepare dinner, which has been fantastic! Having her busy at the table is much better than hungry and under-foot while I’m cooking.

Our Day

2010-03-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

Some snap-shots of a typical day:

The kids playing in a fort, built by daddy of course.

Faith watching tv, in a rather interesting position.

Wesley playing with toys, and pulling Joy’s socks off!

Fit for His Service

2010-03-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Recently it seems that a common theme has been running amongst some of the blogs that I regularly visit. And it's funny, because this weekend I had a conversation with a friend and expressed some of my feelings, similar to what these bloggers are expressing! I can only guess that the Lord is working on all of us.

Failure
Inadequate
Nothing
Messed up again
Not good enough
Lack of experience
Fearful
Overwhelmed

These words have been on my mind lately. Now, I am not slipping into an emotional depression, but I have been feeling these things in my realm of mothering, being a wife, and more recently, with pursuing overseas missions. While it's easy to begin wallowing, and believe me, I have wallowed, I was so blessed to have a brief conversation with a friend over the weekend. She probably doesn't know this, but I was so encouraged! After asking me how I was feeling about the future and beginning to find support for MAF, I told her that I was completely overwhelmed by it! I have no experience in missions; I feel completely un-qualified to stand up anywhere and ask for financial support. Very graciously, she reminded me of something key! In the Bible, who did God often use for His service? More often than not, it was those without experience, untrained, unschooled even. God wants a willing heart, an obedient heart. God wants somebody who is teachable and willing to serve.

I have come to realize that feeling inadequate and overwhelmed are blessings in disguise. If I feel any more than that, I easily become self-reliant. The moment I start saying, "Hey, I'm doing pretty good at this," everything falls apart. When the Holy Spirit convicts us and shows us who we really are, it is then that we cling to Christ and everything He is for us.

Once again, that verse in Second Corinthians comes to mind, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (12:9NIV)

It is when I am completely reliant upon His mercy, grace, and strength, that I am really fit for His service.

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My Girl & the Frog

2010-03-15T08:40:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Faith were out in the yard today and came upon this frog. Faith was excited to try and hold him! The frog, of course, quickly hopped away. For some reason, when I saw these pictures her daddy had taken, I thought of fairy tales like the frog prince! :) Need I say more? Faith, being almost four years old, is in this copy-cat phase. She repeats almost every phrase she hears these days! And for some reason or another has had this odd fascination with the word “died.” Not only has she used it completely out of context, such as “My finger died,” when she hurt it one day. But she has also used the wrong tense of the word. Why all this about the word “died”? Well, tonight, as we were looking at these pictures, she proudly says, “Daddy died the froggy on his boot because they ribbit too much and we don’t like them.” No, we don’t brainwash her……..

Onward

2010-03-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

We have received our formal invitation to candidacy training in Guelph, Ontario at the end of April. Upon completion of the two-week training period in Guelph, we will start working full-time with Mission Aviation Fellowship.
As exciting as this step is for us, we are definitely nervous and anxious to see God's hand work out the details. I am sure I can't even begin to imagine the list of details and events that He will orchestrate. This is only the beginning of learning to trust Him more and more each day. Thinking about all of the unknowns ahead is overwhelming! We can rest though, knowing that He goes before us preparing the way.

Pakistani Kima

2010-03-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

Saute in skillet or pot: (one with a lid)
3 T Butter/Margarine
1 Cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
Add:
1 lb ground beef
Brown well. Stir in:
1 T Curry Powder
1 1/2 t salt
dash pepper
dash each of cinnamon, ginger, and tumeric
2 Cups tomatoes chopped
2 Potatoes, diced
2 Cups frozen peas or green beans
Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Serve with rice.
Garnish with shredded coconut!
I made this for my family last night, and I was pleased that it was a hit! We all love rice (brown basmati), which is terrific because it’s so easy! This Indian curry dish isn’t too overpowering, and it isn’t spicy at all. The shredded coconut is my favorite part! This bit of added sweetness makes me feel as though I’m having some dessert with my supper.
Recipe was taken from “More-With-Less”

Homemade Rice Milk

2010-03-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

This is a super easy rice milk recipe! If you are trying to stay away from dairy products, I wouldn’t recommend substituting it for cow’s milk completely since there’s no added protein, and it isn’t fortified with vitamins. However, Faith enjoys drinking it every now and then, and I have been spoon-feeding a little rice milk to Joyanne twice a day. It can be used as a dairy substitute in smoothies or on your cereal or porridge in the morning. I haven’t tried it in tea or coffee, but hey, if you’re adventurous… why not?

1/2 C cooked Brown Rice
2 C Water
2 T Sweetener (sugar/agave/honey optional)
Vanilla to taste (optional)
Makes approx. 3 Cups
Blend in the VitaMix for 2 to 3 minutes, until completely smooth. Store in the refrigerator. Shake well before using.
If you don’t have a VitaMix, you can use a normal blender, but you may want to strain the milk through cheesecloth or a fine sieve so it isn’t pulpy. The VitaMix is a master at literally pulverizing the grains so the texture is similar to milk.
None of my family is lactose intolerant. That is not why I experimented with this recipe. I was going to make baby rice cereal because the past couple of weeks Joyanne has gone from sleeping nearly 12 hours through the night, to waking up a couple of times! So, rather than introducing rice cereal, I thought I would try her on this rice milk with a spoon. She is excited to see the spoon and smiles like crazy as I try to spoon the liquid into her mouth!

Drink Up

2010-03-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

As a busy mom, almost always wishing I had an extra pair of arms on me, I always forget to drink water! And I’m not the carry-the-water-bottle-around-wherever-you-go type of a person. Actually I don't even really like drinking water. Recently, I read online a great tip for making sure I am drinking a good amount of water each day.

There seems to be a controversy around how much a person needs to drink each day. Is it 8-10 glasses per day? Is it actually only 4? Does it matter if you’re breastfeeding or not? Is the answer different depending on whether you are male or female? I’ll leave that for you to figure out for yourself.

The tip is a great one, I think, especially if you rather drink water that’s not freezing cold from the tap or your fridge. Simply fill with water the number of glasses you wish to consume the next day before you go to bed. Leave them on your counter overnight. I find by doing this any background chlorine taste your water may have has evaporated by the next day. Setting the glasses of water on my counter is a constant reminder to drink up! Every time I come into the kitchen I can visually see how much I’ve had and what I have yet to drink.

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Spring Is Coming! - Return to the Archives

2010-03-05T09:41:00.000-08:00

Oh how much has changed since last year! It is sunny once again outside, which is lovely. But we return to the "archives" today. This time last year we were about to find out that another precious blessing would be ours in nine short months! We were contemplating other changes... and for some strange reason we also started searching for a family pet. Perhaps the pet was an expression of us wanting change? Who knows. It was fun while it lasted. March of last year was also when we sent in our initial inquiry to Mission Aviation Fellowship. It was a busy month. I am so pleased to see the sun outside TODAY, March 2010. Faith and Wesley are playing with Little People on the floor, which is a joy to watch, when they aren't competing for the same toys!

So a visit to the past -

"Spring IS Coming"

(Original Post March 6, 2009)

You may be wondering, "What's with the toilet on the porch?" We are still in reno mode... going on year #4, and my dear husband bought us a new toilet this week! This is old one; my guess is it's waiting for the dump. This old toilet uses 13 litres per flush, and our NEW one only uses 4.5 per flush, which is significant when your home uses a septic system.

Anyhow, enough about toilets.

As I type this, my DS is in my lap with fingers on the keyboard. Makes it a little difficult to type correctly. this morningwheniwok eup, i was so pleased to see the sun! even at 6:15 am it was starting to rise. I love this time of year when the days begin to get longer. I kissed my husband off to work and tried to convince my 3 year old DD that it was 'mommy's quiet time.' She cuddled under a blanket on the couch in the living room and waited for it to be 'morning.'

By accident I met a friend on facebook. She is in Africa right now serving at an orphanage/boarding school. We have had several people from our church go over to Africa and Burma in the last months, and with facebook and the limited access they have to it while they're over there, it just doesn't seem so far away now. To have up to date information about what's happening with them is so precious, and i'm sure their families appreciate it even more!

Lord, we pray for those dear children. They have access to your word and to your gospel message. May your Spirit move in their hearts and draw them to Yourself. Become real to them, and help them realize their very real need for You in their lives. Also for those ministering to them, remind them to lean on You for their strength. Blessed is the man who depends on You for his strength, who puts his confidence in You. He is like a tree planted by the water and sends out its roots to the streams. It does not fear when the heat comes, it does not worry in a year of drought. Its leaves are always green, and it never fails to bear fruit.

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Easy Satisfying Biscotti

2010-03-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

This is a super easy biscotti recipe that my mom has always makes that I love making as well!! It is really easy too.

Easy Almond Chocolate Chip Biscotti

1 Cup Butter/Margarine
4 Eggs
2 Cups Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp Almond Extract

5 1/2 Cups All-purpose Flour
2 tsp Salt
1 TB Baking Powder
1 Cup mini Chocolate Chips

Cream: eggs with sugar. Add vanilla and almond extract. Slowly add melted butter/margarine (not hot though, you don’t want to cook your eggs!) Beat well.

Combine dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking powder), and add to your egg mixture. Add 1 cup of mini chocolate chips to your dough. It should be fairly stiff. Refrigerate dough for a few hours or overnight to make it easier to form logs.

Form dough into 3 short logs across baking sheet (width-wise) on parchment paper.

Cut each log into 12 pieces; don’t separate. (Each slice will be about the width of your index finger)

Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn sheet around and bake for another 15 minutes.
Cool for 20 minutes on the sheet.

Slice and separate pieces by laying them on their sides. Bake at 225 degrees for 20 minutes. Flip each biscotti over and bake for another 20 minutes. Turn off oven and leave baking sheet in oven for at least an hour.

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More Strength Lord! Please!

2010-03-03T08:29:00.000-08:00

The LORD is my strength and my shield;

   my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
   My heart leaps for joy
   and I will give thanks to him in song.

The LORD is the strength of his people,

a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.

Save your people and bless your inheritance;

be their shepherd and carry them forever.

Psalm 28:6-9

This past weekend I was down with the flu, and I was quickly reminded how weak I am, physically and emotionally! I was also reminded upon who (whom?) I had been relying on. God is faithful to bring circumstances into my life to remind of this, that's for sure. The next morning, as I was opening my Bible, Psalm 28 sprung out at me. God is not only faithful to provide strength, but He is faithful to remind me of His promise of strength and protection, at the moment I need.
PTL

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Getting a Haircut

2010-03-02T13:00:00.000-08:00

This is my little man after getting his monthly hair cut. We have been doing this since the summer so he is pretty good at being patient for me now. I'm not the fastest hair-cutter in the world, that's for sure.

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Friday's Archive Visit - a Yummy one!

2010-02-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

This mix is especially yummy! And if you've ever enjoyed a chai latte at Starbucks and turned around and bought those boxes of chai tea concentrate at the store, you'll enjoy this homemade mixture!

(Original Post: October 22, 2008)

In the last while I have taken a liking to chai lattes or frappes before bed during my son's final nighttime feeding. I find chai tea so comforting!

I'm really into making 'homemade mixes.' Having muffin mix on hand, or homemade seasoning blends in my pantry that I know I'd pay much more for at the store, is so exciting to me! ;) There's that frugal side to me coming out again.

Instead of buying those expensive tetra packs of chai concentrate from the store, I decided to try and make my own version today! To my delight, it worked out great! And was SUPER EASY! I will definitely keep this one on hand. :)

Karina's Chai Tea Concentrate

1 1/2 C Water

1 1/2 C Milk (I use skim milk)

10 "Stash" Chai Tea bags

1/2 C Honey

Bring milk and water to a boil on the stove, while heating add honey. Once boiling, remove from heat and add tea bags. Steep for 5 minutes.

Remove tea bags and pour concentrate into an icecube tray and FREEZE, or store in your refrigerator without freezing.

To make, use 3 cubes per 8oz drink and add 1 cup of hot milk. Sweeten if you wish.

Karina's Chai Frappe Recipe

Banana

6 iced chai tea cubes

1 Cup Milk

1 TB Honey

1/8 tsp Cinnamon

Add ingredients to blender and blend to a smoothie consistency.

Makes about 2 servings.

I do not have cardamom spice on hand right now, so I haven't tried to make my own chai from scratch. That will be my next venture. For now, I favour "Stash" chai tea blend. It is spicy, and delicious!

What are your comfort teas? Do you make your own tea from scratch? I'd love to hear your recipes. Leave a comment.

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Being Sick Is No Fun…

2010-02-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

All three of the kids are down with colds now! I’m trying to be thankful that all we’re dealing with is coughs and snot and not throwing up, but it’s still exhausting, and what’s worse is, Rob and I will probably get it together just as they are feeling well and bouncing around the house as normal! Yes, me the pessimist.

All three napping in cozy corners of the house. I think Wes was coziest of all snuggled on mommy and daddy’s bed! :)

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Miss Slimy in her Jumper

2010-02-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

My 3-month old in her jolly jumper, slobbering away!

Joyanne enjoys the time she gets to spend in here, which is very little with two older siblings around wanting to swing her and hang on it as well!

Watching the Torch & the Games

2010-02-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hours before the Olympic opening ceremonies took place in Vancouver, we watched the torch on the live webcam pass from person to person downtown, from the comfort of our living room.

I'm pretty sure my kids have no idea what's going on down there. But it was exciting for me anyways.

I've always been a Winter Olympic fan, and I am pretty excited to see it come nearby, even though, it's pretty expensive for an 'average' person to attend the events.

The games have been playing on our tv a lot the last week and a half, and I'll admit, I've enjoyed a slightly slower paced routine. The weather has been lovely, which has been fantastic because Faith would much rather be outside playing than inside watching tv.

We were planning on taking the kids downtown Vancouver, but Wesley's flu has turned into a cold and Faith and Joyanne are now coughing have runny noses. Getting downtown on public transit and then being stuck down there for the day, (plus rain is being forecasted) doesn't really appeal to me if the children get worse. Instead, we will continue to watch the games from our living room.

Big Busy Birthday

2010-02-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I turned good old 27! Busyness around our house continues, and because it has been such gorgeous weather for February, the BIG renovations definitely continue! Rob is working on the other section of the addition, which will be the garage/workshop and master bedroom and bathroom above it. I am able to picture it a bit better now! Trying to envision a new building or renovation is almost impossible for me, but now things are coming together in my mind. It will be so nice when it is all done.

My son woke up feeling lousy on my birthday, which we didn't realize until after giving him milk to drink... fortunately, he gives a lot of warning so I we made it to the toilet just in time! So, we spent the day on the deck enjoying the sun, and lounging around the living room together, watching the Winter Olympic games on tv. Besides the illness, Faith spent the entire day outside, away from her brother, in the sunshine playing in the gravel. She loves it out there.

As well, this weekend Mission Aviation Fellowship sent us our official invitation to candidacy training in April. We are very excited about this step, but I have to admit a little numb to what this all means. It's difficult to picture the changes that will take place over the next months and year. I suppose that's why I'm being reminded to Trust. It's all I can do! Trust in Him who supplies all the strength I need and usually not a minute too soon. I want so much to know what things will look like in a month or year from now. But what purpose would that serve me? I do not need to know.

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Wonderful Homeschool & Family Resources

2010-02-19T00:00:00.001-08:00

This is a very very small compilation of good resources for the homeschooler.

Curriculum & Articles
Sonlight Curriculum
Tot School
Homeschool Creations
Alpha Omega
No Greater Joy Ministries

Local Government Websites
http://www.bchomeschool.net/
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/home_school/

Neat Homeschool Blogs
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/home.php
http://www.homeschooling-ideas.com/homeschool-blogs.html
http://heartofthematteronline.com/

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You Know You're A Homeschooler When ...

2010-02-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

I thought my fellow homeschool readers may enjoy these. I'm sure you may have heard some before. Have any of your own to share? Leave a comment!

You know you're a homeschooler when...

You have to add the words: "homeschool, homeschooler, and homeschooling" to your computer's spell checker so it will stop marking them as wrong!

You take a trip to the grocery store and your child keeps track of your spending and compares prices using unit pricing.

A trip to the vet is a science field trip.

The principal can give the teacher a pat on the behind and it's not harassment

Your formal dining room now has a computer, copy machine and many book shelves and there are educational posters and maps all over the walls.

Talking out loud to yourself is a parent/teacher conference

Your home economics class curriculum consists of bottle-feeding, diaper changing, and wiping up spit-up.

You consider school work after lunch to be cruel and unusual punishment.

Your teacher gets you started in math and then runs off to take a shower.

You had to look at the clock to see if you could call your public school friends yet.

A snow day meant that you had to shovel the driveway after you finished your school work.

You have suffered through Saxon Math.

You checked out more than 10 books each time you visited the library.

Your mom counted watching a war movie as history and playing out in the snow as PE.

You heard the phrase “socialization” and laughed because you had more friends and knew more people than your public school friends.

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Special Guest Post from a Special Mom

2010-02-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

My mom is the final guest in this homeschool feature week.

This special mom teaches a special student at home. I am so pleased she was willing to share about their experience and some issues they've had to realize and deal with while homeschooling a special needs student.
If you are a mom faced with some similar challenges, learning disabilities and/or physical handicaps, then I hope you will find encouragement from the following.

(Karina) Briefly describe Kurtis' needs and/or limitations.

(Mom) Kurtis will be 15 years old in April. He is an active teen-aged boy who has limitations in his cognitive abilities, because of a brain injury that he incurred from a virus at eighteen-months of age. This has affected his speech and education. It affects his ability to make some decisions for himself and limits him from some independent activities.

Why public school to begin his education since you were already homeschooling four children. It would seem natural to homeschool him as well?

Although I was homeschooling four other children at the time, Kurtis went to public because I was told he would be able to obtain speech therapy, physio-therapy and occupational therapy. At the time I accepted this, because Kurtis could not speak while entering into kindergarten, and I felt we needed all the help we could get.

What was one or two positive things about sending him to public school? One or two negatives?

Kurtis enjoyed and thrived in the public school system. He was fortunate to have the same Education Assistant from grade 1 right until grade 7, which is very unusual. He also had a school mate with special needs, and the two of them were a good match to teach and spend time together. He developed his speech; and learned to read and write and do math at a primary level. He was well accepted at school by classmates and teachers. However as he reached his later years in elementary school, he slowly became isolated from his peers as he had limitations physically and socially.

Why did you decide to make the switch to homeschooling after seven years in the public system?

I decided to homeschool him when he was going to start high-school. I had an interview with the supervising teacher of the Life Skills program at the highschool at the end of his grade seven year. I was already considering homeschooling Kurtis at the beginning of highschool, so I tried to go to the interview with an open mind to see what they could offer him there. After the interview, I felt even stronger about keeping him at home. I was confident that the resources I had at home would meet Kurtis’ needs and meet the requirements any school would have for a “Special Education” student.

What benefits have you experienced with bringing him into the homeschool environment?

We have definitely had many positive experiences in the homeschool environment. I have the flexibility to adapt all the subjects to his specific needs. We can do math, spelling and reading in smaller intervals of time, and even do these subjects two or three times a day in different formats in order to give him the practice he needs. One example is that everyday we read aloud together, each of us taking turns reading a sentence at a time. This gives me time to listen for correct speech pronunciation and enables Kurtis to work through difficult vocabulary. I’m convinced he would not have this kind of an opportunity in high school. Kurtis is able to be a participant in science experiments, and learns history from audio and visual presentations. With the funding provided as a registered homeschooler, Kurtis attends private speech therapy sessions at intervals of time that would not be available through the school system, nor could we otherwise afford. Kurtis has also enjoyed private swimming lessons, which are paid for from his school funds. He has excelled in swimming, and this is another activity we couldn’t have pursued at this level. Kurtis has volunteered weekly at his former elementary school, which was another opportunity that I feared he would only have, if he attended the “Special Education” program in public school.

One challenge you have discovered in bringing him home?

The challenge I have had in bringing him home to school is, to keep school at a pace where Kurtis is learning without becoming overly frustrated. Learning levels increase at a much slower pace than the average student. I must keep in mind Kurtis’ learning needs, not compare him to others, and challenge his capabilities so that he can learn as he is best able.

Any surprises? Good or bad?

The biggest surprise was how easily he adapted to being at home. With school only being two minutes away from our house, and the schedule set into our daily routine of going to school, I was afraid he would really miss going to school. Kurtis adapted easily. Going to public school time occupies a full day, and I was worried he wouldn’t know what to do with himself once his school work was done at home, so I’ve been pleasantly surprised that he does occupy himself in his spare time fairly well.

An encouragement you could give to a mother who is considering options for her special needs child?

You know your child better than anyone does. Don’t let the professionals intimidate you or make you feel like you don’t know what is best for your child.

Where do you find encouragement and motivation to keep on?

The time and commitment to homeschool are demanding, but the benefits are worth it. Watching Kurtis succeed is a great encouragement. I need to remind myself to continually seek the Lord’s guidance and intervention, as He is the greatest source of motivation. He knows what’s best for Kurtis. There are times I bring a situation to Him when I don’t know what else to do, and He always brings a new idea or opportunity to my mind. God is good. Whenever it seems that we have hit a roadblock, He does make a way possible. It may be a math lesson, or curriculum I have to sort through. God even brought a volunteering opportunity that Kurtis has been involved in, since he has been at home. Our family has been very supportive. His siblings love having him at home, and watching him do so well. Also, his grandparents are very important to us. They are supportive of his achievements, and they do all they can to encourage him.

Thank you, Mom, for taking time to answer these questions. Your diligence and commitment are an inspiration to me as I begin my own homeschooling journey, and I hope an encouragement to other moms out there, perhaps needing a bit of inspiration as well!

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Another Lovely Guest Today!

2010-02-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to introduce my second guest today. She and I have been friends since we were very young. I have many good memories of homeschooling alongside her. She has played a large part in helping inspire my love for writing, and we enjoy sharing ideas back and forth about homekeeping, baking or cooking, and what's growing in her garden.

My name is Amanda. I'm 27 years old and I live on Pender Island. I have two younger brothers, and we are each two years apart. I am interested in beekeeping, knitting, farming, food sustainability, reading, writing and music. I am currently working as an insurance broker but I went to university for a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Writing and Psychology. Unfortunately, I did not complete my degree and I am continuing this education online this year, seven years after my initial class. Since graduating high school at 16, I have lived 5 years in Ucluelet, BC. I have travelled to New Zealand and through the South Pacific Islands as well as throughout Europe.

My parents initially began homeschooling because my younger brother was not fitting into the school system. He was far advanced for his age group and he was a sensitive kid so they thought it best to try to educate him at home. They wanted to consolidate the family and pulled me from public school after I completed grade 3. After this initial decision, they decided to homeschool us because they saw our motivation for learning increase and they wanted to provide us with every opportunity to pursue our interests.

I think that because I was homeschooled, I learned how to be self-motivated, which I found very useful in University and in other correspondence courses that I have taken throughout my adulthood. I do not find pacing myself very difficult and because I was responsible for most of my high school education, taking correspondence courses, I developed a good understanding of time management. Also, I think that because of the way I was homeschooled, I gained confidence in my own abilities and in myself. I had my peers and my teachers (my parents) encouraging me and loving me in a secure and safe environment. This has served me well in my adulthood because when I decide that I want to try something new, I find the confidence that has been reinforced through my childhood to attempt new pursuits. Also, I find that I have a want to learn. This "want to learn" was really encouraged in my homeschooling experiences. As soon as I expressed interest in a subject, I was provided the material to learn about that subject, or as I grew older, I was provided the resources to find the answers to my questions. I attribute that "desire to learn" to being homeschooled.

Homeschooling has armed me with the confidence to pursue my dreams and my interests. It has equipped me with the tools to learn from my mistakes. It has also instilled in me the value of family.

My husband and I hope to homeschool our children. We look forward to teaching them what we have learned and being responsible for their education. Homeschooling is a beautiful way to interact with your children on a purposeful level and be involved in their lives. We also both appreciate the time management and time saving that homeschooling offers. We would not have to commute to school, and we found that when we were homeschooled, we only had to spend a couple hours in the "classroom" to effectively learn what it takes children in the public school system 6 hours to learn in a day.

Favorite memory of homeschooling: When I was about 12 years old, a homeschooling family near us owned a farm and we had the opportunity to dissect some of the animals just butchered under the supervision of a Doctor-friend. It was very educational for me to see the inner workings of an animal and to enjoy this experience outside, in the fresh air and without the smells of formaldehyde and chemicals.

You can read more about Amanda's interests and pursuits at As A Bee

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An Inspirational Homeschool Graduate!

2010-02-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today as we continue the 'homeschool' week, I have some interviews to share over the next few days!

My first guest, I'm proud to say, is one of my younger brothers. We spent many mornings side by side doing school work. Although he enjoyed bookwork a lot less than I, little did I expect what he would work toward after high school.

Briefly describe your program and what career you hope to pursue with your degree.

I am currently attending Vancouver Island University (formerly Malaspina University-College) in my third year of studies. I have completed a Diploma in Resource Management (two years,) and I am now working towards my degree in Natural Resource Protection. My degree focuses on protecting our natural resources by research, education and enforcement. People ask me all the time what is my “dream job?” I tell them I still don't know for sure. There are so many jobs I still want to experience and over the next few years many doors are opening. I currently work as a research biologist when I am not in school, and I love it. I am constantly on the look out for new opportunities and I am excited to see what the future has in store for me.

Why did or didn't you appreciate homeschooling?
I have a great appreciation for homeschooling families and think that it can be beneficial in many ways. I think a student's personality definitely has a large part to play in their homeschooling success. I enjoyed being homeschooled because of my learning habits and my introverted personality.

Would you call yourself an "academic" growing up?
I never thought about attending college when I was in highschool, but over the years circumstances led me back to the books. As a student in highschool I never “enjoyed” school, I never had great grades, and I was happy to just get by. I did however like specific classes more than others, especially the sciences. My enjoyment of the sciences led me to my studies today and although I may not have considered myself an academic in highschool, I definitely do now.

When did you decide you would pursue post-secondary education?
I chose to go to university after being out of highschool for a few years (graduated in 2003, started university fall 2007.) The leading reason for returning to school was expanded opportunities. I had been working for a painting company for a number of years and I knew painting was something I did not want to do for the rest of my life. My love for camping, fishing, and hiking paved the way to the Natural Resource Management Program at Vancouver Island University.

What academic preparation did homeschooling give you for entering college?
After completing highschool I felt I was academically prepared for college/university. I had completed my highschool Diploma and I met all the requirements for the program. Although I met the requirements I decided to take some preliminary courses to become more comfortable with college/university standards before diving into 5/6 courses per semester.

What additional formal preparation did you need?
Two years after completing highschool I spent a year in the local ABE (Adult Based Education) program. I upgraded my math to achieve a better grade and completed Chemistry 11, because it was not available to me during my highschooling years. I then took a first year university level English composition course and a first year Statistics course to make my first year of university lighter. Although I did meet the requirements for the program it was my choice to slowly transition into university so it would not be an academic shock.

How did homeschooling prepare you "socially" for the classroom atmosphere?
I always think, what would I have been like (socially) if I had been to public school. During the highschool years I had a few very good friends who were also homeschooled. As students we sometimes had “study days” together or one of the moms would teach a subject to all of us (history, science or Renaissance.) This did provide a group learning environment but I never had the experience of a classroom setting with 20+ students. The first time I ever sat in a lecture hall (200+ students) it was overwhelming, but I actually liked it.

What studying techniques did homeschooling provide, or not provide, that have been helpful in your program at college?
Over the past years at university this subject has been brought up many times. I definitely feel that homeschooling has given me some distinct advantages over public school when it comes to study techniques. I find that I am very self motivated, and I see the advantages of getting assignments done early better than the average public school graduate. I know this is directly related to homeschooling and this has greatly benefited me in both university and the work place. On the flip side, my note taking skills were minimal or non-existent when I started university. I quickly noticed they were in need of great improvement and this was definitely a steep learning curve during the first year of university. Overall I felt my studying techniques were adequate in most areas, but some definitely needed improvement.

Advice you could offer to a newly graduated homeschooler feeling intimidated about entering post-secondary classroom.
Over the years I have talked to a few soon to be homeschool graduates about continuing their academic career and the advice I would give them is simple:

It may seem intimidating and scary, but it's like that for everyone (including those from public school.) The key is to find something you are passionate about and run with it.
Whatever worked for your studying habits in highschool will work when you are in post-secondary. Whether it's writing things down, listening to recordings or re-reading the material, figure out a way that works the best for you and stick to it.
Don't feel different because of your education, feel unique, you have skills they may not have.

Thank you, Ricky, for taking the time to answer these questions. I am so glad I had a chance to ask you these and learn more about your personal experiences and hopes and dreams!

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Reminiscent Homeschooler

2010-02-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today begins a special week-long homeschool feature. I am so excited to have a couple of guests posting about their homeschool experiences, plus a guest interview with a mother and the current challenges of homeschooling a special needs child.

If you aren't already aware, I was homeschooled grades K through Grade 12. That's me in the picture (older of the two girls.) Being the very proud mother that she is, my mom printed off a banner on our very first computer (with colour ink, no less) and wanted a "school photo." I remember being reluctant at the time... but now I am so glad she took the opportunity to snap this photo. All of my siblings are not pictured here. Little did we know, two more would be born in the following few years!

I have very fond memories of homeschooling, which I hope is an encouragement to my mother in itself! When I reflect on my personal experience of homeschooling, the first word that comes to my mind is "closeness." There is a special closeness that I have with my parents and my younger siblings that I think would be different had we gone to formal school. When you spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with your family, you have no choice but to get along. A special community is formed as you work on your lessons beside students who are in other grades than yourself. I would imagine the students in one-room schoolhouses would experience similar feelings.

Our family dynamics played a huge part in our homeschooling success. I am the oldest of six children with a 14 year age spread. As you can imagine, I often battled with my mother for the role of "mother" to the other children, as I would guess most oldest daughters do. Or perhaps, ALL daughters do! I appreciated so much the time we had at home as a family, learning, playing, and working together. I recognize now, as a young mother, the value system I was able to glean from this environment is invaluable as I begin to raise my own children.

Some memories and thoughts I cherish...

I remember, almost as if it were ritual, my closest (in age) brother and me making our tea before we started school work. Tea seemed to be a staple drink for us during our morning.
I also remember thinking that if we had any more school work to do after lunch, it was practically punishment! Who does school work after lunchtime!?
I remember getting together with a couple of other homeschooling families for several "Unit Studies." We learned about Astronomy, the Human Body, Mexico, made a radio, and many other things together.
I remember being glad that if we wanted to take a morning off and go swimming or skating, we had the freedom to do that!
I liked going camping with my family in September when all of the "public school families" had returned to their routines and the campgrounds weren't so busy.
I remember being glad I could use all of my Royal Conservatory piano training towards fine arts credits in high school.
I remember being totally annoyed at a stupid course called Career And Personal Planning! I think I made up most of those career goals, because somehow, I didn't think my goal of "being a wife and mom" would suffice.
I remember these French cassette tapes we were supposed to listen to every day by ourselves. Not very well though, since I would often turn down the volume and read another book or tidy my room. Shhhhh!

Many more memories flood my mind. And I am convinced my years spent homeschooling with my family is why I have such wonderful childhood memories of my family! We actually spent time together. A lot of it.

I hope you enjoy a closer look at homeschooling this week: a few guests, and some fabulous resources.

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Friday - Going to the Archives

2010-02-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

Friday today! A look into the past -- February 2008:

(Original Post)

Philippians 3:1-21

I don't think it's any small coincidence that I find myself pouring through the tiny book of Philippians over and over again. I am continually blessed as the Holy Spirit reveals another facet of His Word that is applicable to my life at each given moment.

Our Garments
(verse 1-11) There is nothing we can do to earn righteous standing with Christ. We are to trust Him and that His sacrifice was complete. It is our righteous covering! "I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness," (Is. 61:10a NIV)

Our Inspiration
(verse 12-14) Because of what Christ has accomplished on our behalf, not because we deserved it or earned it in any way, shape, or form, Paul presses on to obey God more and more, out of love and thankfulness, in each moment. Paul never admits to attaining perfection, or a perfect relationship with Christ. He is always pursuing a deeper relationship with Christ. "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead," (Phil. 3:13b NIV) Paul made some major mistakes in his life, as we all do, but that didn't stop him from trying to change his actions and become obedient to God. Each day is a new day! PTL

Our Focus
(verse 17-21) Paul's focus was on what is eternal. He bore earthly suffering and hardships because he remembered it wasn't his final home. Earth wasn't the end for him, and wasn't what ultimately mattered. His true citizenship was in heaven with Christ and other saints.

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On Becoming Babywise: 3rd Time 'Round

2010-02-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

It seems Joyanne has reached a milestone all parents are anxiously waiting for. That period of time when baby goes down at night not to awaken until morning!

I have written about Babywise before and how they encourage routine and schedule for baby. I have applied their principles to all three of the kids and am happy to report that all three did basically the same thing. When they were eight weeks old, they slept eight hours at night, when they were about twelve weeks old, they slept twelve hours at night.

If you are a new mom, or know somebody about to become a new mom, I would definitely encourage you to check out this resource: On Becoming Babywise. Especially if you, or they, are feeling a little overwhelmed by this daunting task of looking after a newborn. It may help give them some confidence, or feel a little more prepared for their new arrival.

Joyanne's new routine goes something like this:
7:00 Wake up and nurse
8:30 Nap
10:00 Nurse
11:30 Nap
1:00 Nurse
2:30 Nap
4:30 Nurse
7:00 Nurse
7:30/8:00 Bedtime!!!

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Last Bit of Paperwork is Now In

2010-02-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

We are happy to have now submitted the final bit if paperwork to MAF Canada for our application. Karina is now three months post-cesarean and was able to complete her physical exam and have the needed tests done.

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