Thursday, September 30, 2010
Pray for your husband #2
Father, I thank you for sending _________ into my life. He is your gift to me. In him I see the character of Christ, and I thank you for loving me through him. I bless you for creating him just as he is (Psalm 100).
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Praying for my husband
God is so good!! My mom has had some prayer tools for a while now, but just kept forgetting to give them to me. They are little books on rings. There are three, Prayers for my HUSBAND, Prayers for my WIFE, and Prayers for my CHILDREN. (They are called Keys to the Kingdom and are put out by Prayer Point Press.)
Had she given them to me earlier, I would have looked over them and stuck them on a shelf. I would have had intentions of using them, but the reality would be that I would forget about them. I believe that God had her give them to me at JUST the right moment in my life.
This week, I have been clinging to God's word and these prayers for my precious beloved, Chris. (Many times, I need to pray the prayer for myself as well.) These prayers have blessed me and kept me and my heart focused exactly where I need to be.
I hope to encourage you in your covenant of marriage. What a better way to start, than by sharing with you these prayers. I hope to share one every day with you. Join me, as we pray for our precious spouses. There is no better way to be their helpmate.
Prayer for today: (#1)
"Lord Jesus, let my husband abide in you. Let him draw his self worth from you, not from his job or his achievements. I pray for his identity to be in line with your thoughts about him (John 15:4).
Had she given them to me earlier, I would have looked over them and stuck them on a shelf. I would have had intentions of using them, but the reality would be that I would forget about them. I believe that God had her give them to me at JUST the right moment in my life.
This week, I have been clinging to God's word and these prayers for my precious beloved, Chris. (Many times, I need to pray the prayer for myself as well.) These prayers have blessed me and kept me and my heart focused exactly where I need to be.
I hope to encourage you in your covenant of marriage. What a better way to start, than by sharing with you these prayers. I hope to share one every day with you. Join me, as we pray for our precious spouses. There is no better way to be their helpmate.
Prayer for today: (#1)
"Lord Jesus, let my husband abide in you. Let him draw his self worth from you, not from his job or his achievements. I pray for his identity to be in line with your thoughts about him (John 15:4).
Wordy Wednesday! - I have too much catching up to do!
MAN!!! What a September we ended up having! I expected a very non eventful month of really getting into the school routine and attending lots of football games. Instead, we had a family of 5 visiting for three weeks, rained out games, a week visiting my parents house and seeing my cousin from Australia, a broken tooth, spiritual attacks and much more! So, I am going to attempt to catch you up on my long blogging drought....
School:
I LOVE HOME SCHOOLING!!!!! Through all the changes, whether people were here or we were on the road, school didn't have to stop. This is one of the HUGE benefits of home schooling! I am sad that I don't have pictures of this, but I do want to do a post of their progress this year soon.
The tooth:
While at my parents, my oldest daughter thought it would be funny to run full force into her sister who was sitting on my dad's lap. As she hit, Ashlynn's head rammed into my dad's head, breaking her tooth on his glasses. My dad escaped with just scratched glasses and a small cut on his eye brow. Ashlynn was not so lucky. The poor thing lost 1/2 of her front tooth, exposing nerves. She was in a lot of pain. A WONDERFUL pediatric dentist agreed to meet us at his office in a short time and he was able to repair her tooth THAT night!!! Praise God!
Friends came to visit:
This picture was taken at the one football game we did get to go to. Stephanie was not there because she wasn't feeling well.
Finally cooler weather!!!!! We finally went from the 90's-100's to 60's-80's!!!! So we have been back on the trampoline, to a park, lots of bike riding, and just generally enjoying being outdoors once again!
Noah will be 10 months on the 30th! I can't believe how time is flying. You can see from the pictures above that he is the cutest thing on this planet (at least in my opinion)! He is such a joyful spirit! He is content to sit and play with toys, allowing me to school or cook dinner. He lights up in a huge smile if any of his family members walk into the room. This month, his speech has taken off. He says many sounds now: da-da, ma-ma, ba-ba, etc. He like to babble quite a bit, especially in church! He is content to just be, so he isn't moving a lot yet. He sits and stands with assistance. He doesn't pull up, crawl, or even take steps with assistance yet. We just say he is fat and happy! I think it has a lot to do with having so many helpers around!
My goals:
As far as my health goals, they went out the window this month. It wasn't the month to begin ANYTHING. It was the month to maintain, survive, and enjoy! I hope to get back on track in October. I am thinking about doing the couch to 5K challenge as well! We will see!!!
I can't leave September without praising God! He has shown himself so greatly this month!!!! I have been unmistakeably led by His Spirit. I have been SO close to the fire, and not burned. I have been humbled and shown my GREAT need for His strength, wisdom, guidance, Word, salvation, etc. in my life. I am so weak without Him! He has blessed me with the body of believers through prayer, wisdom, love, and encouragement. Thank you, Lord!!!!!
September was unexpected but such a blessing! What a great month! I can't wait to see what October holds!
School:
I LOVE HOME SCHOOLING!!!!! Through all the changes, whether people were here or we were on the road, school didn't have to stop. This is one of the HUGE benefits of home schooling! I am sad that I don't have pictures of this, but I do want to do a post of their progress this year soon.
The tooth:
While at my parents, my oldest daughter thought it would be funny to run full force into her sister who was sitting on my dad's lap. As she hit, Ashlynn's head rammed into my dad's head, breaking her tooth on his glasses. My dad escaped with just scratched glasses and a small cut on his eye brow. Ashlynn was not so lucky. The poor thing lost 1/2 of her front tooth, exposing nerves. She was in a lot of pain. A WONDERFUL pediatric dentist agreed to meet us at his office in a short time and he was able to repair her tooth THAT night!!! Praise God!
Family visits:
My cousin, who is 6 months younger than me, came to visit!! She lives in Australia now and just had her first child 13 months ago. I just had a son 10 months ago! So they will grow up together as we did!
This picture was taken at the one football game we did get to go to. Stephanie was not there because she wasn't feeling well.
My goals:
As far as my health goals, they went out the window this month. It wasn't the month to begin ANYTHING. It was the month to maintain, survive, and enjoy! I hope to get back on track in October. I am thinking about doing the couch to 5K challenge as well! We will see!!!
I can't leave September without praising God! He has shown himself so greatly this month!!!! I have been unmistakeably led by His Spirit. I have been SO close to the fire, and not burned. I have been humbled and shown my GREAT need for His strength, wisdom, guidance, Word, salvation, etc. in my life. I am so weak without Him! He has blessed me with the body of believers through prayer, wisdom, love, and encouragement. Thank you, Lord!!!!!
September was unexpected but such a blessing! What a great month! I can't wait to see what October holds!
Friday, September 17, 2010
The fruits of the SPIRIT - a new revelation!
Galatians 5:22-23a "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
You have all seen my moments of being an air head. They actually happen more often than I am comfortable admitting. So, I know all of you already are aware of what this verse is saying. I, however, just realized.
Anyway, this verse about the fruits of the Spirit is one I have heard all of my life. I can rattle it off to you and actually do think about it often. For instance, I think about how patience is a fruit of the Spirit as I am losing it in front of my children, obviously not having any patience what so ever. I think about gentleness being a fruit of the Spirit as I hear too harsh of words exit my mouth just a little too late to stop them. Then, I beat myself up wondering how on earth I am supposed to teach these precious children about the fruits when I myself cannot seem to do them. Well, that thinking right there, my friend, is exactly my problem! This thought process is centered around me and my "doings."
Just as my salvation has nothing to do with my deeds, my character, or anything else "me," neither does living out the fruits of the Spirit. They are not MY fruits!!! This is the new revelation! I do not produce this kind of fruit. I am sinful and nothing without Christ. These are the fruits of the SPIRIT! They are HIS fruits, HIS characteristics. When the Holy Spirit is guiding me, then HIS character comes out, because I am out of the way and He is glorified. So, my humbling but not surprising conclusion is that I am running my life and not the Spirit.
There are fruits that my personality is more bent toward. You will meet kind people, gentle people, even patient people. They will not live out all of these perfectly, though. They won't even live out any of these perfectly. I cannot work harder to be patient or joyful or good. I cannot grit my teeth and have self control conquered. The fruit of the Spirit are not rewards that I receive for my efforts, they are His and His alone.
So, if you have the pleasure of seeing the fruits of the Spirit in me or someone else, stop and praise God for you have just had the privilege of encountering Him! The person is just another sinful person like yourself. Don't go off trying to figure out what they are doing correctly and mimic them in some effort to make your life better. Go and get to know our Lord more deeply, and you too might have the privilege of seeing some of the Spirit's fruits!
You have all seen my moments of being an air head. They actually happen more often than I am comfortable admitting. So, I know all of you already are aware of what this verse is saying. I, however, just realized.
Anyway, this verse about the fruits of the Spirit is one I have heard all of my life. I can rattle it off to you and actually do think about it often. For instance, I think about how patience is a fruit of the Spirit as I am losing it in front of my children, obviously not having any patience what so ever. I think about gentleness being a fruit of the Spirit as I hear too harsh of words exit my mouth just a little too late to stop them. Then, I beat myself up wondering how on earth I am supposed to teach these precious children about the fruits when I myself cannot seem to do them. Well, that thinking right there, my friend, is exactly my problem! This thought process is centered around me and my "doings."
Just as my salvation has nothing to do with my deeds, my character, or anything else "me," neither does living out the fruits of the Spirit. They are not MY fruits!!! This is the new revelation! I do not produce this kind of fruit. I am sinful and nothing without Christ. These are the fruits of the SPIRIT! They are HIS fruits, HIS characteristics. When the Holy Spirit is guiding me, then HIS character comes out, because I am out of the way and He is glorified. So, my humbling but not surprising conclusion is that I am running my life and not the Spirit.
There are fruits that my personality is more bent toward. You will meet kind people, gentle people, even patient people. They will not live out all of these perfectly, though. They won't even live out any of these perfectly. I cannot work harder to be patient or joyful or good. I cannot grit my teeth and have self control conquered. The fruit of the Spirit are not rewards that I receive for my efforts, they are His and His alone.
So, if you have the pleasure of seeing the fruits of the Spirit in me or someone else, stop and praise God for you have just had the privilege of encountering Him! The person is just another sinful person like yourself. Don't go off trying to figure out what they are doing correctly and mimic them in some effort to make your life better. Go and get to know our Lord more deeply, and you too might have the privilege of seeing some of the Spirit's fruits!
Galatians 5:16-26 NCV
(I don't typically prefer this version of the Bible, but while looking over this passage tonight, several portions of this scripture passage stuck out to me. I decided to share these Words with you....)
Galatians 5:16-26 NCV
"So I tell you: Live by following the Spirit. Then you will not do what your sinful selves want. Our sinful selves want what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is against our sinful selves. The two are against each other, so you cannot do just what your please. But if the Spirit is leading you, you are not under the law.
The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: being sexually unfaithful, not being pure, taking part in sexual sins, worshiping gods, doing witchcraft, hating, making trouble, being jealous, being angry, being selfish, making people angry with each other, causing divisions among people, feeling envy, being drunk, having wild and wasteful parties, and doing other things like these. I warn you now as I warned you before: Those who do these things will not inherit God's kingdom. But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. There is no law that says these things are wrong. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their own sinful selves. They have given up their old selfish feelings and the evil things they wanted to do. We get our new life from the Spirit, so we should follow the Spirit. We must not be proud or make trouble with each other or be jealous of each other."
Galatians 5:16-26 NCV
"So I tell you: Live by following the Spirit. Then you will not do what your sinful selves want. Our sinful selves want what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is against our sinful selves. The two are against each other, so you cannot do just what your please. But if the Spirit is leading you, you are not under the law.
The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: being sexually unfaithful, not being pure, taking part in sexual sins, worshiping gods, doing witchcraft, hating, making trouble, being jealous, being angry, being selfish, making people angry with each other, causing divisions among people, feeling envy, being drunk, having wild and wasteful parties, and doing other things like these. I warn you now as I warned you before: Those who do these things will not inherit God's kingdom. But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. There is no law that says these things are wrong. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their own sinful selves. They have given up their old selfish feelings and the evil things they wanted to do. We get our new life from the Spirit, so we should follow the Spirit. We must not be proud or make trouble with each other or be jealous of each other."
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Update...
Good news!
For the first time in my homeschooling career, I have consistently and successfully completed ALL subjects on schedule (basically) every day! We are LOVING school this year, learning a lot, and having fun with all our success!
Also, we have a family of friends staying with us right now and are now in our second week of successful homeschooling! We have a baby, two preschoolers, one in K, one in 1st, one in 2nd, one in 3rd, and one in 4th! FUN! The craziness, noise, and extra mess is just part of the fun!
Bad news...
We have had someone come out to service our AC. My 10 yr old felt a drip, looked up, and we all saw a big bulge in the ceiling. I then found out that our AC was pouring water out and onto the floor upstairs. So, we turned everything off, enjoyed a very warm afternoon, had someone come out, and have now drained the ceiling.
THEN, four of the eight kids here have come down with a stomach bug and are throwing up everywhere! So far, the others haven't started, but we expect it to happen any time. UGH, one just started again. I have to run!
I have basically been going to bed on time. Game night I couldn't and tonight, I have no idea if I will sleep at all. I have had basically no exercise. I did walk this morning.
For the first time in my homeschooling career, I have consistently and successfully completed ALL subjects on schedule (basically) every day! We are LOVING school this year, learning a lot, and having fun with all our success!
Also, we have a family of friends staying with us right now and are now in our second week of successful homeschooling! We have a baby, two preschoolers, one in K, one in 1st, one in 2nd, one in 3rd, and one in 4th! FUN! The craziness, noise, and extra mess is just part of the fun!
Bad news...
We have had someone come out to service our AC. My 10 yr old felt a drip, looked up, and we all saw a big bulge in the ceiling. I then found out that our AC was pouring water out and onto the floor upstairs. So, we turned everything off, enjoyed a very warm afternoon, had someone come out, and have now drained the ceiling.
THEN, four of the eight kids here have come down with a stomach bug and are throwing up everywhere! So far, the others haven't started, but we expect it to happen any time. UGH, one just started again. I have to run!
I have basically been going to bed on time. Game night I couldn't and tonight, I have no idea if I will sleep at all. I have had basically no exercise. I did walk this morning.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
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