Our family song

During our family devotions, we have started singing our 'family' song Complete in Thee.
As the title states, it is a song that talks about the Christian's completeness in Christ. Hope you enjoy!!

Chorus words:

Yea, justified, oh blessed thought!

And sanctified salvation wrought!

Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,

and glorified I, too, shall be.

If you would like the sheet music for this song....click the link below!

http://www.spea.org/images/stories/hymn_complete_in_thee.pdf

Sweet moment

Last night Daddy says we are doing something a little different during prayer time for devotions. Tonight we are going to praise God for one thing as our prayer. Daddy starts by praising God for who He is. Mommy praises God for the movements of baby that I'm feeling at that moment, and the new addition He is blessing us with. Sister, I believe, praises God for the house showings we've recently had, hoping for a buyer soon. Then we get to our 6 year old. I open one eye and watch as his demeanor has changed from his normal rambunctious boyish style, to a serious and quiet disposition. He rubs his eyes like he does when he's trying to hold back tears. I'm curious. He starts very quietly by thanking Jesus for dying on the cross. I smile! He clears his throat....he's getting chocked up. He says how painful it must have been for Jesus. My eyes start filling up with tears! He thanks Jesus again for dying on the cross. Ok....tears are now rolling down my cheeks!!
As a parent, you wonder if your children are understanding the things you teach them from the Bible. Are they truly getting it?? Are they growing spiritually? Is God working in their life at such a young age? Then you witness these moments. There is growth happening even at 6 years of age.
I give him a big hug before bed. Thank you for your praise I tell him....he smiles.

movin, movin, movin....

We are starting to move boxes into our storage unit. We are seriously trying to declutter the house as much as possible. We had the movers come by this week for an estimate....whoa! We had the realtor come by with a to-do-list of improvements for selling....double whoa! And the painter should be coming by this afternoon for an estimate to paint several rooms....(I don't even want to think about it!!! WHOA!)
I don't know how God is going to work this all out, but I have faith that He already has :) Our God is so good and I continue to see His blessings on our lives. He has always seen us through every situation and I know He will continue to do so. We look forward to the great things He has in store for us.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. The sale of our house and a place to move into are our biggest prayer requests at the moment. I want to see God do some great things....to show Himself marvelous. In this type of economy, heading into the down season of home sales, it is only He who can bring the right buyer to us, especially in the short amount of time we have to move! I look forward to what is going to happen............

Baptism

Our daughter was baptized tonight along with 2 others. What an exciting moment for her! She has made a profession of faith, has a desire to follow her Saviour, and wanted to become an obedient believer. What a pleasure to see her growing in the Lord, even at such a tender young age. Our prayer for her is that she will love the Lord her God with all her heart, soul, mind and strength, and that she will serve Him and be used of Him.

Fasting

I felt led to fast for a day a while back and after the day was over, I looked to hubby and said "I don't even know if I did that right." He encouraged me that God knows my motives, but it made us both realize we knew very little about biblical fasting which got us studying!
Fasting is something I haven't really heard preached about much. It peaked hubby's interest so he started to search for himself and we discovered some very important things.
Fasting is actually a discipline the Christian should be practicing.

Matt 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

The disciples were not fasting while the Lord walked with them on earth. They were in close fellowship with Him. But Jesus says that when I leave, then the dynamics of our relationship is going to change, and that is when they will need to fast.
Biblical fasting is for the purpose of bringing us closer to God. It is a humbling of yourself before God, it is a time to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us to the place of repentance and reveal our spiritual condition and allow us to restore a more intimate relationship with God. It is a time to rely less on food and more on God himself. To have a deeper prayer time and study time with our Lord.

Matt 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Did you notice the first part of the verse? When you fast.....not 'if' you fast. It should be a part of the Christian walk. Jesus fasted (Matt 4:2), Paul tells us in I Cor 7:5 that a husband and wife are to only be apart physically for a time of fasting and prayer, II Cor 6:4-5 says ministers should prove themselves with fasting... Paul fasted (II Cor 11:27), Daniel fasted (Dan 10:2-3), Elijah fasted (I Kings 19:8), David fasted (2 Sam 1:12), Ninevites fasted after Jonah preached to them (Jonah 3:5), Moses fasted (Duet 9:9) ......the list goes on!
To read more about fasting, a good resource is here and there are several more good articles if you search them out.

Have we been neglecting an important discipline as followers of Christ? I encourage all of us to be in prayer about fasting and listen to God's leading about fasting.

Memorizing God's Word

After the kids finish their lunch, we move onto our verses. I've mentioned Sonbeams before and how much we are enjoying their Bible verses, lesson and songs. I made up a binder with a list of our verses from A to Z, then list the kids name beside it. It also contains the lesson and print work to go along with it. They each have to memorize groups of verses at a time (whatever their age is, so our 3 yr old has to memorize 3 verses before getting his stickers....etc). I've also made up an index card box with the verses so they are not memorizing 'in order' of the alphabet, but they can say the verse by looking at its reference. They also get a small 'reward' after each group of verses they learn. Some letters of the alphabet have more than one verse (C - for Children is Ephesians 6:1-3). They are absolutely loving it and it is music to my ears :) We have the CD in the car, so they are constantly listening and learning everyday.
Our oldest is on verse O, our boy is on verse K, and the 3yr old is on H. They are doing a great job!!

If you could also remember my grandpa in prayer right now. He has been suffering with the shingles for a week now and it has been taking a toll on him. I know he would appreciate all the prayer he can get!!

Sonbeam Recommendation

This year we are memorizing 26 scripture verses, one for each letter of the alphabet. I want to recommend this resouce put out by Sonbeams. She has done a fantastic job of putting KJV verses to music so it is easy for children to memorize God's Word. If you visit this link, there are 4 sample songs to listen to. When we drove to Canada last week for grandma's funeral, the kids listened to this CD all the way there and back. By the time we got home, they had memorized several verses and loved singing along. Sonbeams also puts out a teachers guide to go with the CD for parents to teach a lesson with each verse. Here's the kid's singing the verse for letter A and B.

What does successful homeschooling look like?

Each homeschooling family looks different. What represents success for you may be different from the next family. What is your goal for your family as you homeschool? I love the cartoon that one of the speakers at the homeschool convention posted during his lecture.

Boastful Parents Homeschool Reunion
Man 1 - "My son graduated with honors and is now a doctor"
Man 2 - "My daughter graduated and is a successful high school teacher"
Man 3 - "My child loves the Lord!"

Whatever goals you have for your homeschooling years will reflect your curriculum choices, activities, etc. What does success look like to you? Is it graduating with good grades, entry into a prestigious university, a well paying job??? Is it a desire for your children to grow up grounded in the word of God, cultivating a servant's heart, growing in spiritual maturity? This is not to say that your children can not achieve academic excellence AND love the Lord, but as parents we need to decide what our primary focus for our children is going to be. When our focus is on their walk with God, academics will fall into place. We need to desire spiritual growth over academic achievement. When they stand before God, it is going to be their relationship with Him that matters, not if they have memorized all the States and capitals.

I love how Amanda Bennett brought to light what successful homeschooling was for her family. It was children firm in their faith, knowing right from wrong, respectful, curious/wanting to learn, helpful, using their gifts, go after their interests, self-motivated, likes to work together, self confident, and a desire to develop knowledge.

If you haven't done so, sit down and write out your goals for your children. Give them a vision for their future! Protect them from wrong influences and provide godly role models. Lay a solid foundation of scripture, give them training in godliness. Don't fall into the trap of following the world's ideals for education. Proverbs 1:8 lays it out for us as parents. Fathers, you are to instruct your children. That goes way beyond merely teaching them! Mothers, we are to teach our children. Teach them to acquire a taste for God's word from birth! What an awesome responsibility....to be bathed in prayer!!

Sammy again

I've mentioned this book in a
previous post. Reading through
it again with the kids, this passage
just jumps off the page. If only our
children grow up learning this early!!!

(Sammy is tenderly teaching Precious,
who is new to the flock, a lesson about
her attitude toward some sheep in the flock)

"Do you think your heart is ready to hear something wonderful, even if it hurts at first?" Sammy asked.

Precious wasn't sure she liked the way this conversation was going, but in her heart she knew that Sammy was her friend. He would do only what was good for her.

....

"Here it is, and I hope you'll never forget it: there are no annoying sheep, just annoyed sheep."

Sammy paused and let his words hang in the air so that Precious could think about what he had said.

"Soooo", Precious said slowly, "the problem is not the other sheep. The problem is...me?"

"Yep," Sammy agreed.

"You're sure Bertha is not the problem?" Precious asked.

"Think about it, Precious. What is one thing that is true of every sheep in our flock, even Bertha?"

Precious pondered this a bit and then said: "Our good shepherd bought every one of us. We all belong to him. Oh, Sammy, how could I be annoyed with a sheep that our shepherd loves? But I'm confused. Is it right for Bertha to...well...to be like she is?"

Sammy nodded understandingly. "If Bertha needs to change, our shepherd will change her," he said.

What truth that is! How much wasted time have we as Christians spent on our attitudes towards other Christian brothers and sisters. John 13:35 is very clear that "by this all men shall know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another". I love this book!

My year in review

Sitting here thinking back throughout 2010 brings much to my mind. I have changed in many ways. I have experienced much and grown in many different ways which has brought me excitement and peace.

I look back on our school year as a homeschooled family. I have absolutely LOVED this year more than all the rest so far. I had read a quote from someone earlier this year that said Christian homes that homeschool incorporate biblical truths into their teaching and call it 'Christian education'. That was the way I was doing it! This person pointed out that our goal should be the other way around....We teach the Bible and incorporate educational skills (reading, math, etc) into our Bible teaching. That really struck me!! I was very focused on the next test, the grades, the accomplishments that proved I was doing a good job as a teacher. I made sure our subjects were always Bible based, but focused much on the progress being made. I took a big step back and re-evaluated our year ahead. I gradually changed my thinking and approach to school and felt such a joy and peace in my teaching. Our emphasis changed from academics to growing in the Lord, learning how to study God's Word, how to pray, who is this Almighty Holy God we serve..... We started learning Bible Greek as a family which has been such a fun experience for all of us! Our devotion time grew to a deeper more intimate time together....we moved from bedtime devotions where children's minds were wandering, to fellowshipping together after supper, at the table, where they concentrated and were more interactive. I have seen growth in our children spiritually which is exciting. Our daughter and I have been doing a bible study in Revelation which we are both enjoying so much! We both look forward to these series of studies to do together, and the opportunity I get to share with her all about the greatness of our God.

I look at myself and how much I have changed through this year. I felt I was just 'floating' along in my Christian life, reaching out to God in my spare moments of a hectic, busy life with 4 children. I clung to truths that I had grown up with but never really ventured out to study for myself. I came to a point where I needed to start digging and allow God to lead me through His Word and teach me. It has been such an exciting journey so far!! I have a joy like I have never felt before. My eyes are being opened to wonderful things that have brought me such peace and contentment. I have such a longing to see my Saviour like I never have before. I have such wonderful moments with my Lord when I am alone. I want to learn more....to understand as much as I can about His Sovereignty, His Holiness.

I look at my family, how we have grown in number! How blessed we have been with our baby girl this year. There was a time when I never thought children were going to be possible for us. The longing and desire I had to be a mother. The road has not been easy but ooohhh how rewarding!! They are all such a blessing to us and more than I could have ever prayed for! We give God our family to multiply as He sees fit. May each child He grants us bring glory to His name!! I have seen such growth in my husband during the year. His leadership growing stronger and his desire to see each of us grow spiritually. He loves me with an indescribable love. I can not put into words how he makes me feel to be his wife. He loves me through Christ...that's all I can say!

We have had such a blessed year. God has met our every need. We give Him all the glory for what He is accomplishing in and through us.

Grace...amen

Little feet hurry to the table. Breakfast is ready and they are hungry. Before all the children are even seated, one child rushes through grace aloud so they all can eat.
"Whoa," I say to them. "Do you know who you just talked to?"
Yes, they are young, but along with learning how to pray, they need to be continually learning about who they are praying to. Grace is not just a quick prayer we rush through so we can eat. You are going before the Almighty, Holy God.
Often times, even as adults, I think we treat our Heavenly Father so casually. We do not fully grasp the concept of his Holiness, his Sovereignty. Let us never get to the point where we treat God so casual!

Greek

I've mentioned how we are learning Kione Greek (which is bible Greek, not the language in Greece today) and we are all really enjoying it! So far we have learned the first 9 letters and I'm surprised at how much our 3 yr old is catching on. We do our lessons as a family around the table, and he is right along there with us copying the letters on paper and repeating with us.
Here he is singing the first 9 letters....

alpha, beta, gamma, delta, eplison, zeta, eta, theta, iota....

Hugs

You know those days when your kids keep coming back to you for a hug throughout the day. I guess they need that 'extra' reassurance that you are there. I had a day like that yesterday with my heavenly Father. Many times I went to Him, asking for that bit of 'extra' reassurance as I wade my way through a struggle of the day. I needed and asked Him to reveal Himself to me in a special way. And then the moment comes.....and you stop and sit and cry, thanking God for the extra hug that day that you needed. I love those moments. I am humbled that God does that for me when I need it. Such a loving Father, to take the time to give me those extra hugs of encouragement. I love you Lord.

Courtesy

I had a smile put on my face last night by the kids. We've been going through the book Uncommon Courtesy for Kids by Gregg and Joshua Harris, and they have been learning the do's and don'ts of how to behave in public, to adults, on the phone, at the table, etc.... Yesterday our lesson was behaviour while in God's house. One of the rules was to be courteous to everyone. Simple enough. We say 'hello' to all who walk through the church doors. We went to Wednesday night prayer meeting in the evening and we were one of the first to arrive. Every time the kids heard the door open, they popped up out of their seats to say 'hello'. I giggled to myslef because it is always encouraging to know your kids are listening and taking what you say to heart!

I've given these 2 resources before, but again if you have little ones at home, these books are great!! These are coloring book curriculums with the rules listed for the home and for courtesy's in and outside the home. You'll love them!
Uncommon Courtesy for Kids

21 Rules of this House
Here are the rules for the house:
1. We obey God.
2. We love, honor and pray for one another.
3. We tell the truth.
4. We consider one another's interests ahead of our own.
5. We speak quietly and respectfully with one another.
6. We do not hurt one another with unkind words or deeds.
7. When someone needs correction, we correct him in love.
8. When someone is sorry, we forgive him.
9. When someone is sad, we comfort him.
10. When someone is happy, we rejoice with him.
11. When we have something nice to share, we share it.
12. When we have work to do, we do it without complaining.
13. We take good care of everything that God has given us.

14. We do not create unnecessary work for others.
15. When we open something, we close it.
16. When we take something out, we put it away.
17. When we turn something on, we turn it off.
18. When we make a mess, we clean it up.
19. When we do not know what to do, we ask.
20. When we go out, we act just as if we were in this house.
21. When we disobey or forget any of the 21 Rules of This House, we accept the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Chicken wings

This is not a post about food :) Today we have been dealing with some heart issues with our children. Defiance and submission. I pulled out For Instruction in Righteousness to help guide me to some scripture passages, and then we talked about the importance of chicken wings.
Baby chicks stay very close to mama hen, huddling under her chicken wing for protection. If a baby chick wanders away from mama hen and no longer has that protection, it can face danger and death.
God has given our children their own chicken wing to stay under for protection....Mommy and Daddy. If a child stays close under their parents authority, they have protection and guidance to help them fight against the devil and their sin nature. If that child chooses to go out from their parents authority and wander out on their own (self-will), they lose that protection and are open to the devil's attack.
Children, stay close under Mommy's wing. I am here to help guide you, and train you in the ways of the Lord. Do not flee from under Mommy's wing and leave yourself vulnerable to Satan's attack.
(**I bought my book For Instruction in Righteousness off of ebay for much cheaper!**)

How God works

**I'm still working on posting the video...for some reason blogger is not letting me post it**

Bear with me while I explain this story. It is just another way the Lord reveals Himself in interesting ways.
I have had a thyroid condition since I was about 14 years old or so. I take a daily pill for my thyroid function. For many years I was on the synthetic version of this pill. I also suffered with hives that would come and stay for 17 months at a time so I went to see a natural doctor for help, and she switched me to a more natural thyroid medication. I have really liked being on it all these years. Recently I have had a lot of trouble getting this medication. Today in fact, my family doctor (not the natural doctor) informed me they don't make it any more and I need to switch back to the synthetic stuff. This really disheartened me. Hubby got on the internet and started researching my medication and discovered there is a huge backorder on the stuff and it is hard to come by. So many restrictions have been put on this medication it is now hard to get (FDA trying to promote the synthetic stuff huh!!! making it difficult to buy natural). The website did say that the only place to find this medication would be at a compounding pharmacy. A compounding pharmacy???? As of a week ago I would have been defeated and switched back to the synthetic medication ........... BUT.........
A couple weeks back we took baby girl in for her one month check up. She was suffering with a cold and the pediatrician prescribed an antibiotic nasal drop. We went to 3 different pharmacy's and no one was able to fill this prescription. Finally we were told you need to go to a .......COMPOUNDING PHARMACY. We were sent to this tiny little shop that I had never seen before. Do you see how the Lord works???? Had our little one not gotten a cold, we would have been pursuaded to switch back to the synthetic medication with no idea of the alternative.
It may seem like a small thing to you, but to me it is just another way that my God reveals Himself to me and takes care of me. It gives me such joy to know I am important to Him!!!
How has God revealed himself to you lately??

Encouraging week

We had a great Thanksgiving, and a full day today. Off for another appointment tomorrow for monitoring. On Wednesday I have my ultrasound which should tell us if I'm headed for a C-section or just the induction. Still praying and trying to get this little one to turn around. I have no clue what position she is in right now. Sometimes her hiccups are really really low....other times they are at the top. I can't believe she still has enough room to move around so much!!

We were able to share tonight at church how God worked out our insurance issues. It was such an encouragement not only to us, but I believe to so many at church, to see how God worked! Many ladies came to me with tears in their eyes at our news. So many have been praying about this situation, and many people's faith was increased through God's working on our behalf. It is such a wonderful feeling to have so many people invested in our life, who get on their knees for us, who are concerned for us. We have so much love and support and I thank you all for your Christ-like love for our family!

This past week I also had my Christian birthday :) The Lord has continually made Himself more and more real to me throughout the years. He has shown me such a great love and has blessed me all throughout my life. I am so thankful that He died for me on the cross. How hard life would be to face all these struggles and situations without the knowledge that God is in control and cares for me!

All praise to our God!

I want to start by saying My God is amazing! Why He loves a wretched sinner like me I will never know. Why He continues to bless someone so undeserving....it is only because of His unconditional love for me. I sit here in awe....it's a wonderful, crazy, exciting feeling.

I want to recap a little....Hubby was laid off back in May. State continuance allows our medical insurance to continue for an extra 6 months. The end of the 6 month extension goes until the end of November. The problem is that baby is due 14 days after insurance ends!! We went down every road we could think of to try and get insurance to cover the delivery and hospital stay. Nothing worked out no matter what we did. We talked to 3 different insurance brokers and there was no option available to cover this delivery. It looked as though, unless the Lord decided to bring this precious one into the world at least 2 weeks early, we were going to have a very big financial burden ahead.
I could tell this burden was really starting to weigh heavily on hubby. We have seen the Lord continually meet our needs, especially since the layoff in May....but how was He going to meet this HUGE need ahead? We didn't know how, but we knew God was in control.
One evening we headed out to get a new infant car seat. The one we had went through 3 babies and was falling apart. We had found the car seat we wanted and was waiting until we had a little extra room in the paycheck to buy it. Hubby headed into the store to purchase it and on his way in he quickly muttered a prayer that "it would really be nice if there was a sale on that car seat Lord" Well, out of all the car seats in the store, our particular one was out of stock. The employee checked the back room and 2 trucks that had just pulled in. None. The employee tried to encourage him to purchase the next more expensive seat but hubby said no...this is the one in our budget. The employee said they would order one for him BUT couldn't get the computer program to work. Finally they offered the car seat on display for 20% off the price. Hubby walks back to the car with our new seat and looks at me (who was waiting in the car) and said "I think the Lord is trying to show me that He IS in control and knows our situation....He will provide"
So now we get to the good part!! Hubby talked to his former employer who laid him off. He has been doing some side work for them for the past couple months. Was there any possibility that they could re-hire him for the month of December??? We waited........
Today the email has come back. Hubby has been rehired, our insurance picks up from where it left off and we will have insurance for the month of December!! Not only that BUT
...because insurance picks up from where it left off - we have already reached our deductible and out-of-pocket expenses - so delivery and hospital stay are completely covered!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am still in awe.
Hubby and I have grown so much since May. We have been learning about complete dependency on our Lord for all our needs. We knew God was going to supply no matter if we got insurance, or if we received a very big bill!! For this to take place, it can only be of the Lord. Our God is so good!!!! ....our God knows, our God loves us, our God will provide and take care of us no matter the situation.

Heat!

We've been trying to save money on the power bill by not turning on the air conditioning and just keeping the windows open. Hubby told me today, he didn't know how I was managing :) A pregnant woman and heat just don't make for a happy woman...haha. But actually I'm not doing too bad. It gets up to 90 degrees during the afternoon!! I love the little sweat moustaches on the kids though *smile*.
We called our mortgage company as well and didn't receive good news there either. Oh.....sometimes you just want to yell out 'why!!!!!!!!!!' but hubby and I are not going to go that route. We have been listening to some great messages.....all seeming to relate to our situation :) We've had some encouraging notes from friends and family, and people have shared with us their testimony as they went through trials.
One thing that keeps running through my mind is "Let go....Let God!" I feel as though when we start to get anxious and worried about our situation, we are placing the responsibility on OUR shoulders to get a job, get things moving......instead of giving it all over to God for Him to work out. When we worry, we are saying we don't believe God is in control. I don't want to fail this 'testing'....this 'growth'. I want to show the Lord and others that I have full confidence in my Heavenly Father to see us through. I know I am failing at times.....but I do want to strive to place my total faith in His leading. I have my ups and downs, but I'm hoping with each day I will have more ups!!! What a great teaching opportunity to show the kids how our God provides (keeping remembering that Alissa!!!!)
Continue to pray with us....God has something great in store for us!
Now off to get ready for church......

I'm weak...be my strength

It was a miserable day. Rainy, dark, gray, cloudy......... Then the downpour! We were out driving with the wipers on high speed, not able to see but a few feet in front of you. Just a miserable day....... the storm had come.
then.....

We got the call today that hubby didn't get the job. His only prospect.....gone. What do we do now? We were talking about how easy it is for the words to come out of your mouth "Our God will provide".....but oh how much harder it is to actually feel it in your heart and soul. It's getting scary! Living on your last paycheck....
How weak I am. I can feel it and I know it. It's shameful really. I've seen God provide in the past. I've seen how He has taken care of us. I know He will....
I need God's strength. I need His peace. I need to look to the Word.......
but you know what happened by the time we got home...

the storm stopped. It was clear and sunny and beautiful outside. The storm was just for a short while, to serve its purpose for growth of the flowers, trees, grass.....
We covet your prayers while we go through our storm. Our storm for the purpose of growth.... growth that is obviously needed! God knows what He is doing.
I'm looking forward to after the storm...and how we will be able to share the goodness of our Lord! But please pray for us as we experience the not-so-nice 'growing' pains :)
It is all for His glory!