You're Invited

Earlier today I was thanking God for the day. Praising Him for the ability to stay home with our children, for homeschooling, for some personal things and the such. I prayed for the things that are near my heart like my best friend and our school day.

Suddenly I looked up the ceiling and said "God, you are welcomed in my home. Come Father and bring your grace and mercy. Lord, let me see You in my children's eyes today. Be in my heart and in my words. Please sweet Lord Jesus come, You're invited."

A sweet peaceful feeling came over me. In that instant my Lord came to me. My eyes moistened as my heart filled up with His Spirit. I gently heard Him speak to me, "Thank you for inviting me."

Even as I write this my tears are threatening to burst forward.

How many times my Lord have I taken for granted that You are here? How many times have I come to You in anger because You were not handling a situation (or so I thought)? How many times have I just assumed You knew what was in my heart? Again Lord, how many times have I taken Your companionship for granted?

Forgive me Jesus. May I never take You for granted again. May I never just assume that You know you are welcomed here.

This simple "You're invited here." moment made me think of my relationships with friends. I know that I am always welcomed in some one's home but to have them call and say "Come on over." brings joy to my heart. It makes me know that they value me and my friendship. I believe it is the same thing with our Heavenly Father. He is always with us but He wants to hear it from us. He wants us to say those words ... " You are invited. You are welcomed here."

Today my devotions led me to the Book of Ezra. I must admit I don't believe I have ever actually read this book. The first 6 chapters are all about rebuilding the temple. It was so interesting to me about the debate over it. I truly did enjoy the fact that the kings would research whether or not the Jewish people were "allowed" to rebuild it. Of course, they all found out that, yes, God's people were given permission by King Cyrus. Anyway, that is not the point of today's post. What is the message is that being New Testament believers, we, too, have a temple that we are to build and dedicate to God. It's our body. We are the temple of the Living God.

I think it is so fascinating that the Old Testament is a foreshadow of the New. So Ladies, as you read about the Temple in the Old Testament, just remember that that idea, that concept, is about our hearts and body towards Christ.

*I feel I need to have a disclaimer. This is my view and I may be wrong but this speaks truth to my spirit.*

Live Well Wednesday ( a day late)

Okay, well, so far the whole loosing weight thing hasn't been going so well. I am committed though to seeing this thing out.

I was thinking the other day about the weight I would like to get to. 150 pounds. Now, if for some reason I reach 160 I am not going to struggle with "those 10 pounds.".

I'm just not gonna do it.

I feel good about that decision. I think it is because I am praying about this whole thing. I know I need to loose weight and get into shape. I'm just not letting the world tell me what that means or looks like. I'm seeking council from my Creator. :)

Have a great day!

MIA

I know I have been missing in action the last week or so. It's just that the Lord has been speaking to my heart and I have been silent. I'm the type of person that needs to get the words from my head to my heart before I go off jibber-jabbing.

Here are the areas He is dealing with:

Security in my marriage.
Trusting Him.
Crucifying my flesh.

I'm sure there are other things we are talking/working through. Those are the ones off the top of my head.

Glory! He is not done with me yet.

More prayer ...

Please pray for my mom. She has a huge financial burden.

The enemy is working hard with this issue.

She is keeping her faith held tight.

Prayer needed

This is from my best friend Tina. She lives in California. I received this email today.

It's a little crazy here right now. We aren't in any immediate danger, however the smoke is very heavy in the air and there is ash flying around everywhere. The fires are the closest to us that they have ever been. My friend Kristen and her family have been evacuated. They only live about 10 minutes from where our apartment was. Theresa (Tina's sister) was sent home from work today because of the smoke and roads near her office being closed. Pray specifically that the winds die down. Right now they are blowing pretty good and keep shifting direction. These are the really dry winds that blow in over the desert and through the inland valleys. Pray that the cease. Right now our humidity is only at 15%. Pray for the firemen and police who are working these fires. We need God's grace!!

Thank you mighty warriors!

Shout for JOY!

Let me tell y'all something! I can't stop giving my God some praise tonight.

Today we had a follow up neurology appointment for David. Here is some history...
September of '06 David started gaining weight. His little face resemble the moon which is classic for kidney/adrenal failure. Yet none of the test results showed it. We bowed daily, if not by the minute, in prayer. I asked everyone I could find to pray for our boy. In December Dr. Rohn, his endrogologist, said that the dosage of steroid, Dexamethosone, was too high for his age. He switched him to Prednisone. Shortly after that David developed really bad headaches. So we put him back on Dexamethosone and began to ween him off. Alternating between the two for a few weeks. The headaches went away. Glory! Then three weeks after the full switch the headaches came back. Dr. Rohn felt certain it wasn't the medicine. So we took him to the pediatrician. With my history of migraines everyone felt certain that this was David's problem. However, when the doctor looked in David's eyes she saw something she wasn't sure of. So she wanted to do an MRI. Our insurance wouldn't cover it. So she referred us to a neurologist. He, too, saw some swelling behind David's eyes. He ordered an MRI and told us to have his eyes checked out. Just to rule that out. The eye doctor confirmed that this was not an eye problem. Meanwhile we had the MRI. It showed a high level of fluid around David's brain. He then ordered David to have a spinal tap. The tube that measures your spinal fluid goes up to 35cc. David's spinal fluid rose quickly and shot out of the tube! Even the doctor performing the test was shocked. David was then put on Diamox, 500 mg. The conclusion was that David's spinal fluid wasn't draining properly. It was basically stopping in his brain, not filtering out, yet the spine was still sent the signal to release more. Causing the swelling. Now, fast forward 4 or 5 months ... David's meds are all under control. He has lost about 25 pounds and has grown 3 inches. He is healthy! Glory! At the appointment Dr. Toor, the neurologist, said to take David down to 250 mg for 30 days. After 30 days with no headaches to completely take him off that med. GLORY!!
What is even more amazing is that Dr. Rohn and Dr. Toor have had conversations about "my family's faith". Oh yes, that is right! They were discussing David and his disease, Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). Dr. Rohn expressed to Toor that David isn't text book. That David isn't sick like he should be. That David is growing and healthy. He told Toor that we pray for David's healing. God is moving here! He IS going to heal David and He is going to show His mighty hand to the precious doctors we have met. I am thrilled!
Over the years Dr. Rohn and I have talked about my faith. He is an Orthodox Jew. One day when David was two I drew a big line in the sand. I told Rohn that I believe God for a healing. That I am praying to Jesus. He, too, drew a big line in the sand. He said that he understood about my saviour but that He is his prophet. In my spirit I knew that David's healing wasn't for my faith. That David's healing was going to be for many. Since then we have had little conversations. Each time Dr. Rohn has encouraged me to keep praying. When David's bone age is to high for his real age Rohn will say "Keep praying Mom." Sure enough, the growth stops. I always knew it would. Rohn needed to see it stop. To have Rohn speak of our faith to Toor makes my heart sing. Not for me ... but for MY GOD!
Toor has asked me to let him know how David is doing. I assured him I would call. As he shook my hand he said, "Please, let me know as he grows up." What an honor. My BFF Tina said that I should send him cards with pics of David as he is growing up. That is a wonderful idea.

God is amazing.

Over 8 years ago as I sat in NICU being told that if the check up would have been 2 hours later, David would have died ... I didn't think to think about all of this. My prayers were for his life. Now, as he has grown, and our testimony is increasing. My prayers are still for his life, for his healing but also for the spiritual lives of those we meet. You truly do 'just never know'.

Blog Giveaways

I love free stuff. The Lord is always blessing me with some awesome things.

Here are two blogs that give stuff away! It's awesome.

Made in the USA and Bloggy Giveaways

Check them out. I am going to be adding some more links on my sidebar. I like to get a feel of a blog before I "endorse" it. These two blogs are neat. So I wanted to spread the word and share them with you. Check them out often, like everyday!

God is the God of second chances

This is a great read. Worth taking and tucking into your heart.

Went for a walk

God has really been calling my husband and I to the challenge of getting fit. Since the years of our wedding we have added some pounds. I have added a lot more then he has but I did carry three beautiful boys. :)

I have to be careful with what I do. Or rather how much I do and how fast I do it. Among many things I am learning perseverance this season of my life. I know if I set a goal to high I will not do it. If I start off with a bang I will loose steam. I know it, my Lord knows it.

I have decided to walk for 30 minutes every day. Yes, every day. That alone is going to be tough. So my goal for this week is just that. To walk. For 30 minutes.

Bo and I went for a walk this evening while the boys were at my mom's. He wanted to jog the whole time. I tried but my shins started hurting. I knew if I pushed myself ... well, I would quit. So I continued to walk. Being the great hubby that he is, he waited for me at the corner and walked with me.

While we walked we talked about our goals. His is to loose 60 pounds. Mine is to loose 60 as well. That is my long term goal.

We walked 1.5 miles in 27.36 minutes. I know that isn't great but for me it was wonderful. I was sweating, my breathing was a bit labored, my legs felt strong and my pulse was up. I stretched before and after. Even the stretching felt great. I really enjoyed my walk with Bo. Our neighbors waved as we passed one another. It was nice.

My short term goal is to take a minute off my time by the end of the week. I am really excited about this. I know that God is happy too. After all my body is His temple. I should take care of it.

Another long/short term goal is to drink water every day. I'm up to about 45 ounces a day. I want to hit the 64oz consistently.

I'm going to use this blog as an accountability partner of sorts. Along with God and my hubby. I'm going to set up something on the side bar. Now, don't tease me! Just encourage me. ;)

A great family weekend.

Today I woke up very achy. This weekend has been long and fun.

First on Friday, Bo and I went out on a date. :) We shot pool and had some dinner there. I won 3 out of 4 games. Yes, it does count even though your husband is giving you pointers! After pool we went to the beach. The Neptune Festival was going on, which we didn't realize. So what was suppose to be a quiet time on the sand turned into a stroll on the boardwalk, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells. We agreed that we should bring the boys down more. We live about 20 minutes away and hardly ever get to the beach.

On Saturday the boys had their games. Both teams lost but it certainly wasn't lack of trying. Grandma was able to come to both games so that was nice. Afterwards, we all went out to lunch. Then Grandma went home and we took naps. Well, at least Bo and I did!

It was about 7 when I felt like getting really up and doing anything. As I was straightening up the house Bo suggested that we take the boys to the beach. I thought that was a great idea. So we got ready and headed out about 8. After 15 minutes of trying to find a parking spot we finally found one. When we went over to the meter (there is one meter for 8 spots. Very high tech stuff!) we realized we had over 2 hours FREE! God is so sweet. So we headed down the Strip. It was a bit more crowded then the night before. The boys wanted to get to the sand so we decided to head towards the Boardwalk. We were a bit bummed because we realized they had closed off the beach. None of us could understand why. But we strolled along the Boardwalk, stopping at the various stands as things caught our eyes.

Finally after about 7 or 8 blocks we came to the pier. We noticed that there were people on the beach there. So we headed out. As we were going down the steps onto the beach, a fire cracker went up in the air from the pier. We all realized that we were just in time to see the fireworks! What another great blessing! Every one took off their shoes, dug our toes in the cool sand and sat back to enjoy the show. It was a great show too!

Afterwards we just walked around some more. Enjoying the bands at various streets. Of course we headed to Wendy's to eat. We got home about 11 and climbed happily into bed.

Yesterday we decided to hit Busch Gardens! The weather was so perfect. Sorry Lori! I did think about you from time to time. :) The lines for the rides were short. Matthew was tall enough to ride all the rides in the park. You could not contain his joy! He rode the Alpengeist. He said it was intense! LOL Next he rode the Griffon. Not only was it his first time but he rode in the VERY FRONT! (Lori, I told Matthew that you would be jealous!) He said that the Apollo's Chariot wasn't his favorite anymore! LOL David was so brave this time too. He doesn't care for roller coasters. He went on one in the beginning of summer but it just tossed his tummy too much for his comfort. One day he might realize that is the point. Until then he rides things like Trade Winds, Roman Rapids and the Flying Machine. Well, yesterday he tried the Katapult. He laughed non-stop. Ryan too was excited because he was tall enough to ride the Loch Ness Monster. Of course Big Bad Wolf will always be his true love. It was the first coaster he could ride.

We came home beat and tired. Nonetheless it was a great weekend. So needless to say I woke up achy. But it is a good achy. A heart full of joy just the body achy.

Grandma Annabelle

I just got off the phone with my step mom Annabelle. Please lift her up in your prayers. Good days are starting to come more in between the bad days but I hear the sadness in her voice.

We chatted a bit and she asked if we were still coming for Thanksgiving. She was excited to hear that yes we are coming for Thanksgiving. The sadness was there though. The holidays are coming up and it's a reminder that Dad won't be there.

I have something funny to share. At least I think it is funny. It's a shake your head in disbelief kind of funny.

Annabelle is an amazing cook. Every meal is home cooked. I don't think anything she makes has less then four ingredients! Bless her heart she is forever in the kitchen. Unless I made fresh coffee and convinced her to take a break with me out on the front porch, she wasn't leaving her stove. Well, she always makes all the fixin's. From early in the morning you could smell the dinner comin'. Between the warmth of that kitchen and the coolness of the front porch ... let's just say ... you are in heaven.

Finally it's dinner time. Grace has been said the kids are served first. We all would circle around the table (we ate buffet, too many of us to sit at the table!) and find a nice comfy spot somewhere. We all would stuff our face, praying that we would be able to let out the button on our pants so we could have a slice from every pie! Annabelle makes 5, yes F-I-V-E, different pies!

Well, here comes my Dad. He would keep pouring salt and pepper on everything! One of us would ask him what he was doing. The food is perfect! "No, no it isn't. Not even salt and pepper!" Here is the funny part ... he had no taste buds! LOL Between two bouts of throat cancer and all the chemo and radiation from the other cancers, the man couldn't smell and couldn't taste! What a nut!

Even though that would drive me crazy, I will miss it. I know she will too. For 26 years she cared for him. For 7 of those years she bravely took care of him while he died. They were and still are each other's world. She misses him terribly. Understandable so. My uncle Benny, her brother, came to visit and help her around the house. She told me that the whole time she kept calling him Bill. She asked me if I thought that was bad. I said no. I would be surprised if she did anything different.

Please pray for God's love and comfort. I know He is there with her but I want her to feel it deep in her spirit. I remember the week of the funeral, as she told us (us girls) the plans she was making, she kept asking 'Do you think that is okay?' 'Is this alright?' Of course we were fine with whatever decisions she made. I find her still doing that today. Pray that I can share with her God's peace and my assurance that she is O.K.

Thank you mighty warriors. The enemy and loneliness is tearing her up. Thank you for praying.

Get a list together

I just want to encourage everyone out there ...
Get a list of prayer concerns together and give them to your husbands.

These men were given to us by God Himself. Even the ones who don't know it. :) Go before God and ask Him how to word it for your man. Remember Ladies, men do not like details. They just want the main points. So as you write your list out be careful not to go on about it. Remember you are not asking him to fix anything, you are just asking him to pray. God is the fixer. You can give some scripture that you would like to have prayed over you as well.

Second, don't nag or assume that he isn't praying. Remember all things are in God's perfect timing.

Third, when you present your list don't do it with the tone of "You are not praying for me, so here." Simply say to him that these things are on your heart and mind. These things are heavy on your shoulders. So you are bringing them to your "covering". Don't misunderstand me, the Holy Spirit can, will and does bring things to your husband's spirit. This list just helps him see where you are physically, emotionally and spiritually.

And last, ask him for a list. Most likely he won't hand you one but he will give you a list all the same. He will say things. Make a mental note or write it down. If he says that there isn't anything he needs, well, we know better. Again, and always, refer back to the Holy Spirit. Also, let him know lovingly that you are praying for him. Especially on those days when he seems to be distracted or just not himself.

One more thing Ladies ... He most likely will not tell you that he has been praying. Trust God for the answers. Trust your husband to do what he says he is going to do. Believe the best in your precious man.

Well, now, go make your list! I am.

*UPDATE* Don't forget to thank your husband for praying. Especially when God answers.

Thanks Beth. I needed that.

Check out Beth Moore's and her daughter, Amanda Jones' blog for today.

Be blessed my precious ones.

every Mom needs a night out

A little while ago Bo took the boys fishing in the evening.

Four female ducks swam by.

Matthew turned to Bo and said,

"There goes some moms on their way to Starbucks for a girls' night out."

Bo was so tickled by him that he took the picture of those four precious moms.

Now that is precious!

This is my youngest football player! My 6 year old Ryan. What a cutie.

some pics

Top is our friend Jamie helping Matthew with the wand. Next is Bo working on the tire. And then at the bottom is David. :P

HOT DOG!

Well, I'll be!! I figured it out! With some help. Thanks Jason!!
This is Bo and Ryan. Friday Bo and the boys along with Bo's friend Jamie washed the two trucks.

A walk

I started walking the other day. I want to be healthy and most importantly, I want to loose weight. My goal is for about 60 to 70 pounds.

At the boys' practice is a track. I would see moms out there walking and dads jogging. I admire them for I sat in a chair in between Mitey Mites and Tiny Mites. I would sit with my coffee and a book. I chatted casually with the other parents and cheered on the teams. It was wonderful and relaxing. However, my mind was saying, "You could be walking.".

So I finally decided to do it. I walked a mile and a half in 28 minutes. I think for me that is good. :)

The walk really isn't the reason I am writing.

I began singing praises to God. Random songs from my heart. It was so peaceful and only a few heads turned. In between songs I would thank God for all the wonderful things He has brought into my life. My saving relationship with Him, His Son and the Holy Spirit, my family, my health, my worldly possessions, and so on. I praise God for every answered prayer, whether yes or no. I thanked Him for loving me so much. For showing me His glory everywhere in my life. So it was no coincidence when I looked at the sky, full of dusk, and found a beautiful shade of purple. That is my favorite color.

My heart leaped and I praised Him for that purple. I shared a little joke between He and I about Home Depot matching that color.

In between all that I shared with Him my frustration over not being able to execute my plans. For starting things that I later couldn't finish. One more time I asked, "What is wrong with me?"

So quietly, in the midst of cheers and pad pops, He answered.
"Nothing is wrong with you. You simply lack perseverance."

Oh.
Oh, I see.

Yes, I do see. I've had that thought before but that day something inside of me changed. I went from knowing it to feeling it. I know that my nature, my flesh is weak when it comes to perseverance. I am laying down my flaw for His perfection. Through Christ I am going to persevere in my life. Whether it be homeschooling or loosing weight I will finish and I will finish well for I have the Mighty One dwelling inside of me.

Make it a good one

This is my 100th post! Isn't that something? So, I need to make it a good one. LOL

This past week God has been speaking to me. He has been talking gently. Practically whispering to me.

It is no surprise to anyone that I have a hard time executing plans. I can see the beginning, what is needed and I can see the end but to actually do any of it ... well ... that's my problem. I'm not sure where that all started. I have always been a procrastinator. Not when it came to other people's needs, just my stuff. For the most part it never bothered me. After all, it only affected me.

Lately though, the fact that I can't seem to get any of the things I want to do done, I am annoyed. With myself. So I cry out to God "What the heck is wrong with me?!" God has been so faithful to point out the areas I need to work on. Things like prioritizing my day and stop being selfish with my time. Still ... how do I execute it? What does it look like? Am I even close to the goal?

I don't understand how I can do so great one day and completely screw up the next. I mean the exact same type of day, doing the exact type of thing yet I can't do it twice. For example, yesterday I woke up at 6:45. Now, today, I dragged myself out of bed at 8:30 and that was only because 1. a friend called me ( I didn't answer but I did call her back) and 2. the boys were all up. Why couldn't I get up two days in a row? What in the world?! It's not like I went to bed later yesterday. Both days I went to bed within an half hour of each other.

This morning God told me.
My sweet friend confirmed it.
Then she wrote about it on her blog.

Rebellion.

Yes, I said rebellion.

No, I'm not proud.

There is something inside of me rebelling. Something in my heart that doesn't want to do that which I know I should. To make matters worse ... when someone like my precious husband suggests that 'this' or 'that' will help me ... well, forget it! Now I really don't want to. Of course I don't say that, nor do I really think that but my actions do! And isn't that what really counts as a New Testament believer? It's what is deep in our hearts that we do and say. It's our believe system, our thought system, our heart attitude that dictates how we behave. And boy, am I a rebellious gal.

Some would say I am independent. It's okay to be independent if that is what this is. But that is not what I am doing.

Since my chat with my dear friend I have apologized to God. As the day goes though God has kept bringing it back to my mind. Which suggests to me that I need to get on my knees. He's not done talking to me and I am going to give Him my undivided attention.

So, tonight after all is calm and boys are asleep ... I am going to meet with my LORD.

What areas is God talking to you about? If you don't mind sharing I would love to hear about it.

My hubby!

My hubby came home this afternoon with some surprises for just me!

Bo went to Office Depot to get some things for the business. While there he bought me some cool stuff for my AVON business and homeschool.

One was a 6 drawer table that I can put all my business supplies in. Then he bought me a briefcase bag to carry my brochures, pens, samples and so forth. Next he got me a day planner. But an At A Glance day planner that I can make lists! He knows I love to make lists! Then he bought me a stamp set! No more hand writing my name and number on brochures! For school he bought me a Teacher Planner! It is so nice. It has big block day scheduling.

I was blown away when he came home. What a sweet man. He kept saying "I hope this blesses you."

Oh yes, it has blessed me. I love it all. I have been thinking about all this stuff but never found anything I liked enough to buy. Everything he picked out is perfect! I quickly got everything together. I put all my AVON stuff in their new homes and tonight wrote out my lesson plans for the week.

I truly am blessed by my husband's generosity.

Just talking

This holiday weekend has been so nice. Just what we needed and wanted. Saturday the boys had their first football games. It was so cool! They were awesome. They look adorable in their football uniforms. Each team has navy blue pants, navy blue shocks and white jerseys with navy blue numbers. Ryan has a white helmet, Matthew and David have gold. Matthew's number is 62, David is 67 and Ryan is 27. Matthew pointed out that there is a pattern to the numbers. M and D share a 6. D and R share a 7. M and R share a 2. I thought that was pretty smart! :)

Sunday we went to Busch Gardens and so did everyone who lives in Virginia!! So after 4 rides we left. We have season passes so there was no loss but some gas. We are going to go back on Friday while everyone is at work and school.

Today we hung out and went to the movies. We have a place here where you see older movies and are served food. It's awesome. So we saw Surf's Up. It was cute.

Tonight we just hung out some more. We started up the bed time again. No one really complained which was nice. :) Matthew even went to bed earlier. He was very tired this weekend. I wonder why!

Tonight I just got done figuring out our day tomorrow. I feel so energized. I have a goal and a plan. I'll talk more about that at the picture He's painting.

Our dear friends made it to GT safe and sound. That is a good thing. Jeremy and Lori are coming home with their new baby girl on Friday. Bo is going to meet them at the airport. We are so excited to meet Wendy!

My 7th Beth Moore Bible study starts tomorrow too! Our church is doing The Patriaches. I'm very excited. I love my Bible studies. The studies I have done by Beth are:

1. A Heart Like His, a study on King David's life.
2. Believing God, experiencing a fresh explosion of faith.
3. Breaking Free, making liberty in Christ a reality in life.
4. To Live is Christ, the life and ministry of Paul.
5. Living Beyond Yourself, exploring the Fruit of the Spirit.
6. Daniel, lives of integrity words of prophecy.

I guess that is about it. God is so good to us. My soul is at ease.

Prayer ...

There are two people in my life that God is putting such an ache in my heart for. Will you please pray for them with me? I will not go into details about anything and I'm only going to give their initials.

Thank you all, you are mighty warriors!

J.F.
C.R.

Let's stand in the gap, let's strike the enemy in Jesus' name! Let's rejoice for the VICTORY belongs to the Lord.

Cup to Cup

I'm one of those weird moms who doesn't get excited about the 'cute clothes' for babies. Sweet onesies with cute little sayings do not turn my head.

However, cool sippy cups rock!

It has been a good four years since we have had need for such cups. I just can't resist checking them out from time to time while I'm at Wal*Mart. It's not my fault really because Wal*Mart likes to help me with exercise by putting the cat supplies on the opposite side of the store from the groceries. So I have to pass by that section. It's either that or the candy aisle. :)

It was probably a month ago when I noticed cool summer fun sippies.

Now fast forward to last Friday.

I was at Dick's Sporting Goods buying cups for the boys to wear. It is football season. ;)

So we have entered into a new phase at our house. It does make me a tad bit emotional to think we have gone from ...

Cup to Cup.

Friends and Fellowship

God always knows who to send to me right when I need them. I have been feeling like my life has been spinning out of control. I have kept my foot secured on God's Word but everything else has been going nuts. The boys fighting, tension between hubby and I, the house never staying straightened, the van is a mess, laundry is in piles everywhere, both clean and dirty! Every where I look whether personal, physical or spiritual I have felt a little out of sorts.

My prayers have become "OH Lord please! Help! Father please!" That is it. Nothing more then some pleading. I'm not 100% sure what I have been pleading for. I guess it has been for the "chaos" to stop.

So my precious Father brought some people into my week that really have touched my heart.

Friend number one: Tina
She listened ... she shared ... she understood ... she prays

Friend number two: Bree
She listened ... she encouraged ... she understood ... she prays

Friend number three: Lori
She listened ... she told me about the monks ... she understood ... she prays

Friend number four: Lynae
She listened ... she confirmed what God said ... she understood ... she prays

Friend number five: Sarah
She listened ... she flipped it around to show me the other side ... she understood ... she prays

God is so faithful! He brought peace in the form of dear friends. I woke up today with literally a different outlook. I am so humbled by my friends' love and godliness. I can feel the Spirit of the Lord moving now. I know my Father is in control. He loves me and I am safe. My eyes refuse to hold the tears now. My heart is overwhelmed by God's ways.

Friends and Fellowship are so important. We were not meant to walk this thing out alone. I encourage you to call your buddy and check in. Offer hope, blessings and Christ's love. My friends had no idea I needed it but God knew! Is God bringing someone to your heart now ... give them a call.

Get to know you a little.

I have done some things to my blog here. I'm not brave enough to fool with my homeschool blog. :)

Scroll the left hand columns ... I have a poll and a place where we all can chat.

I'm trying it all out to see if I like it. :)

A little time with an old friend

So, it is no secret that I hadn't been reading God's Word like I should. Like everything in my life I have had to become disciplined with it again. I know, I know that is sad.

I have been spending about a good, solid 15 minutes reading the Bible every day. What a wonderful blessing. Why did I ever stop? Of course I have my list of reasons why but there truly is no excuse. It's not like I went blind for goodness sake!

Today God spoke to me about something. We were in Psalms together. I was reading Psalms 18 and came upon verse 25 - 26 "To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd."

I think if you were to think about it you will find this statement that I am about to make true. People who do wrong things think that everyone does wrong things. For instance, people who smoke pot think that at the very least everyone has tried it. People who cheat on their taxes believe that everyone cheats at some point in life, some way. On the flip side of that, people who are always kind find it hard to believe that someone could be cruel. We base people on our self and others. I'm sure you have heard that our relationship with our earthly father has a direct result on our relationship with our Heavenly Father. For an example, if our dad was a mean man then we have a hard time believing that God will not be mean.

This scripture in Psalms sums it up for me. God shows Himself to be what we see Him as. Now, don't miss understand me. God is not crooked, He does not lie, He is mighty. Regardless of what we see, He is Truth. Where I am coming from is this ... Is there an area in your life where you view God in contrary to His word? Is there a place in your heart where you believe He can't do something? Have you come to a place where you would bet the farm on Him in all areas but this one? Is there an area where you have been so hurt, so let down, so disappointed that you are not even willing to let God have it for fear He will do the same?

Where in your life does the picture of God in your heart not add up to scripture?
Think about it, pray about it. You may not have any area where you are struggling with God's character. Glory to God! But some of you might be ...

So I say this ... If you can't see God for who He is ... move. :)

A grateful heart

I know that I have been MIA a bit. I have been busy with God and my family. :)

Sunday was my Beloved's birthday. It was a wonderful day. We went to church and heard an awesome Word. Then we went to Applebee's, truly 'eatin' good in the neighborhood'. After that we just headed home to watch the race. Which Bo's driver actually had a great car but blew an engine with like 15 laps to go. All was not lost, his second driver won the race. We didn't have any big thing like cake but we did head out to 7-11 for Slurpees and ice cream. :) It was a very nice, relaxing day. Bo had a good day.

The boys started football this week. Man, is that exciting! It is a whole different world. I love it! For the first week they are doing conditioning. It's two and a half hours worth of intense conditioning. The boys LOVE it! They are really doing well. All the coaches are high fiven' and saying 'good job', 'atta boy', 'were you watchin' him?'. Makes my mama heart swell! There are about 175 kids there. Let me tell you they all came to play some ball. Even the 5 year olds are serious. Which is just too cute to even talk about! All the teams are tackle and this upcoming week they start hitting. My boys are beyond excited about. This is such a dream come true for them. All three of them have football in common. They know all about the sport. Come actual football season you can't get away from stats, coaches, teams, owners, players, free agents, draft orders, college recruits, college averages, college players grade average ... the list goes on and on. ESPN is always on in the fall and the boys are running to the computer when they first get up to see if anything has posted on NFL.com over night! LOL Just like NASCAR, it's in their blood. We truly are a bunch of good ole boys and girl rednecks! LOL

I am so grateful to God. I was sitting at the field last night, watching the boys run through the drills. Each one was at a different station. I was over come by my thankfulness to our Lord. He has given all of us our dreams.

My all time dream was/is to be in a family that loved and cherished me. To be in a family that wanted me around and needed me. I wanted the husband, kids, minivan, spaghetti night dinners, the less then perfect living room, and even the piles of laundry and dishes. I wanted to belong, to be accepted, to be cherished. I have that and a whole lot more!

Bo's dream is the same basically. He wanted to be loved. He wanted to belong, to be protected, not in a physical sense. To have someone stand up for him and support him. Someone to see the best in him and see his potential. He wanted children who looked up to him. He wanted/needed unconditional, pure love. He's got that and a whole lot more!

Now since my kids, to the Glory of Christ, are being raised in a God-fearing home where we are forever before His throne on our faces, they do not have all that 'emotional' stuff. :) Their dreams are this ... have their own rooms and to play football! To God's glory ... they have that and a whole lot more!

Do you notice the theme of our dreams? We have our dreams and a whole lot more!
What about you? I encourage you to take this weekend and look around. Sure there will be somethings you can say aren't your dreams but look at the bigger picture. God loves you and He is always showering you with a wonderful gift. You just might have to look for it. Ask God to help you see His hand in things. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised.

Romans 11:29 (NIV)
For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. (emphasis mine)

I think someone needed to read that today! GLORY!

Coming Back

I have been so far away from God's Word lately. I haven't even attended church regularly. There is truly no excuse for any of it. I have been hearing God's gentle voice calling me back. He has said things like "What you have built up will only carry you so far my love." and "Each day you are loosing your footing, The Evil One is watching your steps." Today I woke up just before 6. Yes, it is hard to believe. I decided to take advantage of that. I made coffee, ate breakfast, straighten up and headed out to my front porch. I sat there with my coffee cup and Bible. I asked for forgiveness in regards to neglecting my most important relationship. Then I asked God to prepare me for Him. I knew He might rebuke me. I didn't want to be prepared with a bunch of meaningless reasons for my absence. We had wonderful quiet time together. There was no sense of frustration on His part. We picked up right where we had left off. Isn't that comforting? Like when you haven't talked to a good friend in awhile and finally that phone call comes in and you walk away feeling as if no time had passed. That is how it was today.

I feel as though God is calling me to do some things. I am taking advantage of the "lazy days of summer". I'm going to spend the next 5 or so weeks and really dive in. I want to make sure that I do not go where He has not gone. I don't want any of these things to be about me or my desires but to glorify Him. I'm asking for your prayers. I need wisdom. Is this me or Him? I need things to line up and for me to have the patience to wait. Some of the stuff He is talking to me about may take a while, like years. I don't want to rush Him.

I have come to some major opposition recently. The house, finances, and Dad dieing are just the tips of the iceberg. I truly believe that Satan knows what God has planned and he wants to discredit all of it. He wants me to believe that the things I hold in secret, my dreams, will be mocked. The Enemy wants me to believe that God would never use me. That God would never trust me to handle these things. The Enemy wants me to be so sidetracked that I miss what God is saying and doing. He, the Enemy, wants me to be shaken in a personal way. I do know this ... if there is some shaken to happen then let it begin! God will shake me to remove the things that would hinder me. Things that are stopping me from doing His will. Only the things that remain are of God and will not be shaken! Hebrews 12:27.

Oh Baby! We got a whole lot of shaken going on! :) All to God's GLORY!

Quiet times

I am finishing up some MUCH needed quiet time. Grandma took the boys for the night and Bo was (and still is) out of town. I have the house all to myself! Since 8 o'clock last night! I wasn't sure what I was going to do other then be so happy. :) I took the boys to the library yesterday so I had a fresh new book. I had a list of recorded shows on the DVR list. I had some chocolate and I had plenty of coffee.

All I did last night was veg. I watched T.V., ate my candy and drank my coffee. I was very quiet. I didn't cry, I didn't agonize over undone chores, I didn't even read my book. I sat there with my remote and fell in and out of sleep.

It was glorious! I have not had a quiet, by myself, night in I think forever! Or so it feels. God knew exactly what I needed. I needed to do my own thing for a little while. I needed to only concern myself with myself. That is exactly what I did.

Soon I will be picking up my boys. Soon Bo will be coming home. Which is good because I think the race is about to start. :) I feel re-energized. I feel ready to take on the rest of July. I feel like I have recovered from the craziness of it all. Oh, I think I forgot to mention that Bo's younger brother was in town. He came the Monday we got back from Florida. There was no rest for weary.

God also gave me beautiful weather! No humidity. I was able to open my windows and feel the cool breeze. I love open windows. I love hearing the sounds of the neighborhood. I love to smell fresh air.

I didn't spend any real time in God's word or in prayer but God did bless my quiet time. I felt Him here with me. He gave me much rest. He always does. He loves me and He shows it all the time!

Gettin' into trouble :)

No, no, it's okay. I started selling AVON a few weeks ago. Truly Bo and I are my best customers! I have all intention to do something with AVON unlike Tupperware that I sold 10 years ago. :) I am getting back in the swing of things. I totally ditched it while on vacation and my dad. I'm excited to jump back in. July is my month for that and August is my month for getting ready for school to start. Hey, if you are interested in AVON let me know. I even have my own website. :) Which is great for those of you who are out of town (my town). I'll have to email you privately. :) You can go to my homeschool blog to email me. Just click on the 'email me' link on the right hand column. For whatever reason I can't do one on this site.

I caught a fish THIS big!

At least that is what I feel about the experiences I have had in 10 days!

Okay, here we go!

We were able to fly out to CA on the 4th of July to visit my best friend Tina. She had no idea we were coming. Her husband told her that he had to run to the store for something but actually he was meeting us up the road so we could follow him back. She was standing outside with her neighbors getting the grill ready! Her mouth dropped open when she saw us drive up behind Joe. I just about jumped out of our moving vehicle! It was wonderful. I ran across the road and held on so tight! I kept telling her "All week! We are staying all week!" It was amazing.

We had so much fun in California. We hung out, played in the pool, went to Sea World, played games, talked, talked and talked! It was so wonderful and very much needed. Tina has been away from Virginia since October of 99. I have only seen her 3 times in almost 8 years and each time it was her coming back here. So this was so neat. Sunday we were able to go out, just the two of us. Joe and Bo kept the kids and we headed to Starbucks. There is a lake that sits behind this particular one. We took our coffees, sat on a bench and talked. I think we covered everything under the sun.

Now, during this time ...

On Saturday we were at Sea World. My phone died and we ended up getting separated from Tina and her family. So we did our thing until we were soaking wet and very cold. CA has no humidity ... at least not VA humidity. We decided to head back to the hotel and catch up with them later.

On Sunday we got up and went to church. Tina's church. The anointing of the Lord is upon them. There were two words spoken that day and both applied to me! I knew instantly in my spirit that God was talking to me. It was so wonderful.

After the service the pastor said that there were free books out on the table in the lobby. I couldn't believe my ears. God is always giving me books! Books that I have just in casual conversation with Him have mentioned that I wanted. He is so cool! So I was able to pick up Stormie Omartian's books, Power of a Praying Wife and Power of a Praying Parent! How cool is that?!

That afternoon Bo and Joe went out to lunch together. They went to a popular biker joint. While they were out I took the boys back to the hotel so that we all could rest a bit. I decided to check my voicemail just to see if there were any messages. There were two. Both from my mom. She was crying and very upset. I instantly prayed that she would be covered by God's grace and love. I called her back and couldn't reach her. So a few minutes later she called me back.

She told me that on Saturday evening ... My house caught on fire! Yes, you read that right. Here she had put a bag of paper out on the back porch. She smoked her cigarette and went back in the house. About an hour and a half later my neighbor was pounding on the door. The back of our house was on fire. God was so good. Only external damage was done. She was able to put it out. The fire department checked the house and put a tarp over the damaged part.

I just couldn't believe it. I never once got upset. I prayed and prayed but I never said a harsh thing to her or anyone. God has seen to it that it will only be around 500 bucks to fix. He is amazing.

Now on Monday morning we decided to go to Laguna Beach. Hang out in the Pacific Ocean for awhile. On the way there I received a phone call from my sister Mickie. She said that our dad only had about 24-48 hours to live. Really, the 48 hours was pushing it. I couldn't believe it. I knew he was dying but I honestly thought there was more time. I started to kick myself for being in CA.

I immediately handed it all over to our Lord. I told Him that I had no opinion about being there or not. I recognized just how in control God is in all of our lives. We made some phone calls and were able to get a flight out early Tuesday morning. We were going to have to fly to VA and drive down because no flights were going to Florida until Thursday.

Monday evening we checked our bank to see what money we had in our personal account. Well, come to find out the IRS levied our account! They took out a little over 300 dollars. It just kept coming. Praise the Lord Bo has talked with them since. All is well. They refunded the money. It was total error on their part!

I called Annabelle about 5:30 Tuesday morning (west coast time) before our flight left. She said that Dad passed at 3:20 (east coast time) Tuesday morning. I was so sorry for her. Of course she was so sorry for me. I told her that I would get down there as soon as I could.

Well, the flight from CA to GA was good. When we got to GA however we, because of weather, had to wait 4 hours! By the time we were about to take off I did start crying. I just couldn't believe it all. We weren't just stuck at the airport ... we were stuck on the plane! I said to Bo "What could possibly happen next? Am I going to just spontaneously com bust?!" After that little outburst I was able to calm down. Shortly after that our plane took off. Glory!

We got home late Tuesday night. So we took Wednesday getting things together. Bo had to take care of some things for our business. We knew that the funeral would be Friday. Wednesday night we headed out to Florida.

The time with my family was wonderful. We really celebrated my dad's life. I saw people I hadn't seen in years. We just hung out, talked and laughed. It was really nice to share memories. All of my sisters came but my brother, Billy, did not. He felt that we should wait a few weeks before we had the funeral. Please pray for him. Keep him covered. My oldest sister's son was in a car accident the day Dad died. She was so upset because she's mama and wasn't there. He is okay. His name is Tommy, well, Tom now that he is 18. :) He suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns on his arms but other then that, he was good. Glory! Needless to say her family were not able to come.

So Saturday morning we left Florida. We arrived late that night. It feels soooo good to be home. There truly is no place like home while on this side of glory!

As far as my dad's salvation ... Annabelle told me that before my dad passed he talked privately with the Hospice minister. She said that after that conversation he was a different person. She said that you could see it in his eyes. She said that his face was so bright. My two sisters that were there agreed. He hadn't been talking much because he was so weak. A few years back he had an laryngectomy. Now though, he was smiling and telling her that he was going to be alright. He "now sees the type of man I was but that now things were different." He told her that she would be okay and us kids would be fine. She told him she was proud of his fighting the various cancers and proud to be his wife. He told her that he was tired and needed to go. She said that three times he opened his eyes and held out his hand towards the ceiling. On the 3rd time he opened his eyes, held up his hand and shook his head yes. With that he closed his eyes and simply stopped breathing.

Needless to say I have had one crazy July. Hopefully the rest of July will be nice and quiet.

I hope that this post made sense. :) Have a great week everyone! Much love and thanks for all the prayers!

Hello everyone! I know it has been so long since I have posted. Trust me, it is not because God is not talking to me!

So much has happened in such a short time. I'll post about it ALL when I get a chance. I will say this ... my dad did pass away early Tuesday morning. We are headed down tonight to Florida. Please pray for travel mercies. It looks like we will be hitting rain the whole way down. :(

Also pray that Bo and I can represent Christ to my family. I'm praying for peace, love, healing, kindness, joy, you name it I'm praying for it!

Thanks everyone!

Check out my girlfriend's blog.

I wanted to update those of y'all who didn't know ...
My homeschool blog is up and running. Check it out when you get a chance.

the picture He's painting

Being in God's Word

This week I slacked off reading the Bible. Boy, can I tell!

That is all behind me now. Today I got back into His glorious Word. It's amazing all this new stuff I am learning. It's not stuff that is a great big revelation but it I'm learning more about the people. Like I always thought Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister. But he didn't lie. She is his half sister. His father's daughter. Now, that stuff does not bother me because God and I came to terms with that a few years back. :) But if you told me you married your half sibling ... that would creep me out. We live in a different culture ... we have more people of non-relation to marry ... you get my point. :)

We really cannot forsake our time with Him. Trust me, I'm telling myself this more then you!

Oh Father, make me thirst for You and Your Word. May I never be satisfied with my day unless I have spent time with You. Lord, how can you direct my paths if I am not talking to You? Sweet Lord, I truly want to treasure our time together. Help me to always put You first. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Peace

Peace has been an aching in my heart lately. I know that it is a direct result of some heart issues in my home.

I found this post today. I encourage you to read it. It's a bit long but oh so worth it. In fact I am going to read it again!

Hanging out

I am so excited about summer. We've stopped school, at least officially. We have planned some great things to do. Our days are going to be filled with fun in the sun. I joined the summer reading program at our library. I can win some great prizes. Every week they are giving away gift cards to Barnes and Nobles, Starbucks, Red Lobster and some other places that I cannot remember. The grand prize in August is an iPod! Wouldn't that be nice?

Anyway, in all my planning I can hear the Lord saying, "Don't forget about me, don't forget about us (our relationship)". How could I, right? Easily!

I realized that this week is our first official week off school. We have been staying up late and sleeping in. What does that mean? No quiet time with God. Yes, it is sad and true, I haven't read His word at all this week. So why am I writing this post now instead of diving into the Bible? Because I felt I should confess that to y'all and to Him.

Just a few days out of the gate and I have already fell down. But this minute is a new minute. I am choosing God. We can have all the fun of summer but I need to put Him first. There should not be a break from our time together.

How about you? Have you eased into the lazy days of summer and forgotten your relationship with Him? Or are you going strong, diving deep into His Word? How's the prayer life? Are you still taking time to lay it all before Him or are you just sending up flares?

Oh precious Father, let us not forget You this summer. Let us still find rest in Your mighty hand. You are the most important relationship in our life. Without you all the BBQs, swimming and lounging around are just meaningless. Praise You Lord for this season of rest. I ask that You continue to minister to us. As the summer moves on may we see more of You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Bugs

I'm working out the bugs in my new homeschool blog. :)

I think I got it all done. It's different from this blog so I'm learning all over again the way to post, how to view the blog and other things like that. :)

I'm excited about it.

Well, just wanted to let y'all know that I did get it up and running. Although I can't figure out how to spell check. So y'all might see how horrible I truly am at spelling. :(

Yes to another blog

So, The Lord and Bo said yes to another blog! I even have a name picked out. I'm not revealing what it is because it may be taken already. :)

I will be getting it up and running tonight.

Stay tuned ...

:)

some proud moments

Well, first let me just say that Matthew has read 8 books in a week! LOL Mind you they are not novels but nonetheless they are some great books. Mostly on ocean life. He has agreed to wait on going to Barnes & Noble until his brothers are a bit caught up. Or least over the weekend because we had to finish our CATs today.

So, another proud moment. David has had no interest in reading this year. Every program has frustrated him to no ends. So I dropped it. I just focused on the other stuff.

So, last night David decided that he didn't want anyone to read to him. He was gonna read. And he is! He struggles over a lot of the words but he is determined to do it. Each page he is getting better.

It's funny, because I had just a few months ago, resolved myself to the fact that I would take more of an Waldorf approach with the boys. Now look at them!

Even Ryan, who at most times cannot tell a p from a q or a b from a d and who could care less about writing left to right has decided that he too would like to read. He found a book that has very little words in it. He memorized the words and will not stop 'reading' it to every one.

My boys are so sweet. God is so faithful. Once I truly laid it all down at His feet ... He has just been so faithful!

Just so proud

I am just so proud of Matthew. I just have to brag a bit. Yesterday I told him about Barnes and Nobles summer reading program. It's really neat. After reading 8 books he will be able to pick from a list, one free book. He will have the opportunity to get 2 free books this summer. Not only that but he will be entered to win a free autographed book. It's one of Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House books. We only have a few more to read and then we would have read all 37 books. So I thought he would be thrilled.

He wasn't. I could tell all he was thinking was "I'm going to have to read all summer!"

So tonight, after he was in bed for about 1/2 hour, he comes downstairs. He has a book in his hand. I wasn't quick to say "Get back to bed." and praise God I wasn't because he hands the book to me. Then proceeds to get the B&N paper and a pen. He writes the info needed and I sign it.

I was so excited. He chose to read a book tonight for the summer reading program.

Then he came back downstairs with another book!

So, my heart is melting. All my worries are gone. All my prayers are being answered. Matthew even told me tonight that he enjoys reading!

It's amazing when you give things to God. I resolved the fact that I am who I am and I teach the way I teach. All apart of His plan. Glory!

Just had to share :)

Shem, Ham, and Japheth

Well I found out today that Ham is the youngest of the brothers. :)

In Chapter 9 verse 20 Noah got a little carried away with the wine from his vineyard. He fell asleep naked in his tent. Well, Ham walked in and saw him. So he told his brothers about it. They walked in backwards with a garment over their shoulders and covered him up. Then ...
Genesis 9:24 "When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him" (emphasis mine). He then cursed Ham's son Canaan. Which I don't think is fair but that goes on the list of 'Who am I?' Boy, embarrassment is rough.

So, I now know that Ham is Noah's youngest boy. This is exciting.

CAT

Well, the California Achievement Tests came in today. We will do them tomorrow and if need be I might do one of the boys Friday.

I am amazed at God's peace. Last year I was a wreck. Very nervous and concerned. It was our first year taking the tests. We had, for the first two years, an umbrella school that I reported to. Now this year I feel almost like an old pro. Praise God!

David looked over his test and asked if we could do his tonight. I said no. :) I'll teach that boy yet to procrastinate! No, no, I'm teasing. I try not to do 'school' at night because that is when we hang out with Dad. Plus we have a leadership meeting/dinner tonight at church. So, we just couldn't. Tomorrow will be here soon enough. :)

This year of school has really stretched me. I give all the glory to God. He is raising me well.

Front to Back

The Lord has been telling me for a few months that I should read the Bible cover to cover. In all the years of reading His Word, I have never done that. I skip around, read where I want or where I feel He is telling me. God has never disappointed me when He told me which book to read. So when He started sharing with me that He'd like me to read front to back I said O.K. Did you catch that it has been a few months?

I tend to procrastinate.

Yesterday I realized that I was being disobedient. After telling Him I was sorry I decided to read. I printed out a cool little "read the Bible in a year" schedule. Not that I am thinking I have to do it in a year. Maybe I will be done sooner ... who knows. But I love lists that I can check off! I have another one that is in my day planner but Bo and I are using that to keep track of the reading we are doing together. So, with my cool schedule, Bible, highlighter and pen I started to read. I asked God to show me things afresh. I have read all about creation for years, we even covered it in science. So I didn't want to hurry over His word because "I know it". I was pleasantly surprised at what He showed me.

In the first chapter of Genesis I realized something. Now mind you I know this but it really spoke to me yesterday. God is of order. Everything He created was in order. He didn't create the land before there was night and day. He didn't create animals before there was food for them. It really spoke to me about how my days should look. In order, not chaotic and all over the place. Actually this spoke to my schooling.

Next what struck me was how God defined 'Day'. At the end of creating something the Word says "And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day" or second or third, etc. That made me think of Sabbath. Friday night starts Sabbath. So, here is my thought ... when I go to sleep I am not recovering from the day but getting ready for the day.

The next place that really spoke to me was God's tenderness. In Chapter 3, after the sin when God made them leave Eden He did something so tender. He clothed them. He was upset and heart broken. He even discussed it with Jesus and The Holy Spirit (vs 22) but in vs 21 He made them clothes. It just spoke to me about God's mercy, His tenderness, His love.

Are you ready for the first generational curse? This about blew my socks off when I realized it. In Chapter 3:17-19 God tells Adam that the ground will be cursed. Adam will painfully toil the land and it will bear thorns and thistles. Right? Now move to Chapter 4:11-12. God tells Cain that the land will not produce crops for him. Whew! A sinful heritage starting with Adam passed down to Cain.

Now let's look at what I found in Chapter 5! I'm just so excited. :) Chapter 5 lists everyone from Adam to Noah. What struck me was how God gives an account but says only one walked with God! What in the world? Here is Adam who was the first man. He got to name all the creatures. He walked in the garden with God and in chapter 5 there is no mention of their relationship. Nor that of Seth's or any descendant until Enoch. Not Cain's Enoch, another Enoch. Now, Enoch walked with God after his son Methuselah was born. Enoch was 65 years old and walked with God for 300 years. Enoch never died but at 365 years old God "took him away."vs 24. He was the first one God took up. Amazing.

The next thing that caught my attention is with Noah. Each man has mention of one son and at what age he was when that son was born. Then scriptures say he lives a certain amount of years afterwards and has many sons and daughters. But with Noah it says in verse 32 "After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth." Now this is just me thinking ... Is it possible that they were triplets? Think about, it didn't say at 500 he had Shem and at 503 he had Ham, etc. I'm not one to read into scripture but I thought that would be something neat. :) My mom said that I should check out the wording in regards to Jacob and Esau since we know they are twins. I'll let y'all know what I discover.

Reading Scripture is so wonderful! I will keep y'all updated on my adventures in His Word!

If you only have time to read two blogs

Please make this blog one that you read today!

Be encouraged!

A new blog

No, no, I am not getting rid of this blog. :) I love it way to much. Isn't that sad? I don't understand how people can go weeks without blogging. I know that I am not the only one who loves her blog! Anyway ...

I am thinking though of having another blog. One that is totally focused on Homeschooling. This blog, The Potter's Clay, is so much about my day to day walk with Christ. Of course Homeschooling is very much apart of it and I do write here about it. I was thinking, tho, that I could have one just for HS. One where I posted things like curricula, my learning, field trips, new discoveries and those A-HA moments that I will have. Not to mention all the stuff the boys will be doing! LOL

So, I am in the process of asking God if it would be alright. I tend to be a bit consumed by this one. I was telling my girlfriend the other day that I can be right in the middle of a situation and think "oh, I gotta write about this!" Of course I don't because I usually forget or God reminds me that I haven't fully grasped what He was saying. So I need to meditate on it a bit more.

I also haven't talked to Bo about it. I honestly don't think he would mind. I actually only thought of it last night. He has been hanging out with Dad this weekend. They went to a bike rally. He rode one of his dad's bikes. I can't wait until he gets one. I'm looking for a helmet now and biker boots. Gotta have them. Tennis shoes are not cool or safe :) The boys need those things too.

Date night will never be the same! Woo Hoo!

One more thing ... I am also praying about a name for the homeschool blog. Any ideas?

Rain

We haven't had rain here in about a week. You can tell because people are getting cranky with the heat, there are more bugs flying around and the lawns are turning brown.

I was looking at the brown lawn at my mom's house. I then thought about our lawn. It, too, is turning brown. That thought brought me to my neighbor. He is so careful with his lawn. He cuts it faithfully. He waters it nightly. His lawn is turning brown. Mind you it's not as brown as mine but nevertheless, it's starting to turn.

I thought to myself, "Boy we just need a good rain.".

My heart thought of life. How often do we need a good spiritual rain? No matter how much we try man made things to sooth our soul, it all comes down to this ... our soul thirsts for God.

Psalms 143:6 "I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like parched land. Selah"

We cannot water our own souls. There is nothing on this earth that man has created that can quench our thirst. Only God, the Father, Jesus Christ our Lord and the Comforter, The Holy Spirit can satisfy our souls.

Do you need a little rain today?

Precious Heavenly Father, we come to you dry and weary. Father fill us up with the Holy Spirit. Quench our thirsts Father. Let us be a well watered garden Lord. Bearing up good fruit in and out of season. Oh Father, may our roots go deep into your Word, into your Kingdom. Lord from this day forward may we never take for granted a good rain. Father fall on us! Father drench us in your power. May it soak us to the very being of who we are. Praise you Jesus! In Jesus' Name, Amen.

This is such a wonderful post ...

I just had to share. Check it out over at the Cafe.

Be prepared to have your little heart stings tugged, especially if you are a mama.

Awesome Show

I have been watching this awesome show on PBS. It's called History Detectives. I highly recommend it. It is just a great show. Very educational ... for us, the adults! :) Because you know as well as I do that now you are in a season to want to know this stuff! LOL Although my boys enjoy it as well. I also saw on the PBS website, http://www.pbs.org/, that they have History Detective Kids. I think I will check that out for the boys.

Anyway, just thought I would share.

Oh yeah, Lori, they have a detective game you can play! ;)

Freeing

I can not even tell you how I have been chasing my tail with homeschooling. It's been just nuts and silly. But to God's glory all that has changed!

Background:

The first few years of homeschooling we did great. Why? Because they were so little? Perhaps. I think it had more to do with the fact that I had fun with them. We played games more. We made up stories more. We did more arts and crafts. I was relaxed. I didn't concern myself with the fact that we were studying animals instead of the earth. I didn't mind if my boys were ahead in math but behind in reading. I felt we were where we were suppose to be ... my soul was at ease.

Then third grade hit. I panicked. I looked at everyone else, where their kids were at and thought I came up short. Clearly this reflects on me not my boys. I became consumed with what they didn't know and forgot what they did. I became overwhelmed with where we fell in the world's standards and totally forgot where we were on the Kingdom's schedule.

I spent most of this school year on my face. I asked everyone I came across to pray for me. They did and I am forever grateful.

I spent hours on the phone with two wonderful and amazing girlfriends, not to mention the emails! These two gals were my sanity in times of trouble! Thank you.

I always knew that I was an electic homeschooling. Basic meaning is that I draw from all the styles to find my unique way of teaching. The boys respond so well to that. But even with the electic approach I found it hard to 'sit and do school'. We had our pretty notebooks, workbooks, textbooks, games, fresh pencils, living books, you name it. I just couldn't get it together enough to sit and take a chunk out of our day. It reflected too. The boys were having a hard time with patience. My discernment told me that it was from not being trained to sit and do the work. That there was too much free time in our day. Free time that became fight time while I was off doing my thing. I quickly repented of my selfishness. I also confessed to God that I ran because I didn't know what to do. I felt defeated. I felt like a failure. I knew that God called us to homeschool even before Matthew was born. So what was my problem now?

During all this God was so kind and patient. God revealed to my husband that my heart wasn't in it. I knew this was true the minute it came out of his mouth. Truth convicted me. I prayed for God to renew my heart. School had become difficult because I was bored. I was bored because I only focused on the negative. I only focused on the negative because I took my eyes off of what God called me to do. That was the change ... right there!

I stopped asking God to fix it. I started asking Him to train me. Teach me how to teach them. "Heal me Lord, heal my heart of worry and show me my steps.". Things started clicking in new ways. I realized that all through out the year, He was showing me that we are an unschooling family. Between articles and real life I began to see it in our lives. For instance, Matthew learned fractions this year not because it was next in the math book but because there was an opportunity for him to learn it. Bo had a major contract to write up. He had to measure out blue prints for an appartment building. Matthew helped him in the evenings. That is just one example.

This weekend God really ministered to me. It was at our church Saturday night. We had a guess speaker, Dr. Lee. He was so funny and so annointed. Backing out of the driveway I told Bo that I was going to the alter if there was a call. I said that "Unless it is for salvation I am going!" Well, let me tell you, He had an alter call and it wasn't for salvation! While I waited for him to come and pray over me I prayed to God. I remember saying to Him "touch me, just touch me. Lord, I am tired and drained." I also prayed for my son's healing, my father's salvation, my marriage and school. I realized that Bo was standing next to me as Dr. Lee approached. Dr. Lee put his hand on my forehead and began praying. I don't remember the exact words but it had something to do with the Holy Spirit making Himself known to me in a new way. I just wept. Then he placed his other hand on Bo and prayed over us as a couple (we had our Life Group Leader name tags on). He took his hand off my head and put both on Bo but quickly put his hand back on my head. He said this "God sees your humble heart. He has heard your secret prayer and He is answering." I almost jumped into the air! My spirit knew it to be true. Then he placed both hands back on Bo and prayed something I couldn't hear. The next thing I know Bo is laying on the ground. Our boys were with us. My youngest didn't understand why Daddy fell. I simply said that sometimes when the Holy Spirit falls upon you in such power your body falls down. Then later Bo explained to us what Dr. Lee said and did. He said that Dr. Lee put one hand on Bo's stomach and asked the Holy Spirit to come deep inside his spirit and life. Bo said that he legs just gave out. Bo had never been slain in the Spirit before. Bo said that he felt the reason some people fall is because God wants to minister straight to the spirit of the person with out physical distractions.

That was it ... the turning point for me. I woke up Monday morning with no plan for school. We just did it. It was so perfect. None of the boys complained. We just kept going with school. No one rushed to turn the TV back on. There wasn't any fighting. The house stayed straightened up. The mood in our home was relaxing and calm.

My spirit feels so free. I can feel His presence here with us. My heart rejoices!

Check it out

I just wanted to remind y'all about the "Where I surf" section. I add things from time to time. I surf a lot of great blogs but not all make it here right away. Simply because I want to get a feel of the writer and the message before I encourage anyone to read it. So, check out the side bar every once in awhile :)

Encouraging Post

I just wanted to share this post from Beth Moore (Thanks Lori).

Be blessed y'all (that means you too, Laura) and enjoy!

Flowers in My Garden

Today was a great, relaxing day. Bo had off because of the rain so we made a day of it. We ran some errands and had lunch. While out we decided to hit the Home Depot to get some stuff for our new house. We bought some high traffic grass seed, some turf builder with crab grass blocker stuff (you can see that it's clearly my expertise!) and we got FLOWERS! We also bought some stuff to help with my garden, some weed blocker thing you put in the garden (again, my area! lol). I bought some bulbs to plant now for summer and then we got some annuals. Pretty pink, white and my favorite purple! Each boy picked out one annual that was 'his'. We are going to do a stone hedge for the garden. We have already picked it out but since we had the van Bo will go back tomorrow to actually buy it. He'll bring his pick-up truck. I'm so happy. This is just wonderful. It will give our house such great curb appeal. I'm a bit nervous because this is the first time I have ever gardened, if that is even the word. :) But I figure this ... some flowers may die. It's a part of life. I'm okay with that. :) I can't wait to plant some tulips but I have to wait until fall. Oh and I love mums too, those are fall flowers too. It looks like we will have some color through out the year. That is wonderful. We are also talking about doing something around our mailbox. Well, I just wanted to share about my new upcoming garden. I'm so excited!

Update on my Dad

I called my Dad today. No one answered the phone. I left a message letting everyone know that I love each one very much. I then called my sister's cell. I know that they are moving sometime this month. I thought maybe they had already moved in but she updated me on the house. They have about two more weeks. Just waiting on the some septic stuff and a couple more inspections. I'm happy for them.

Our conversation turned to Dad and Annabelle. Mickie said that Annabelle is not doing well. She walks around in a zombie mode. Annabelle is not eating much and not sleeping well. Annabelle wakes up, eats a little bit and then is off to the hospital until she comes home around 10 at night. Her doctor prescribe her a very low dose anti-depressant but she won't take it. Mick has tried to convince to take them but she refuses. Mick is also concerned because Annabelle refuses to get anything in order. My Dad's will is not finished. The house is in both their names. Annabelle hasn't notified Dad's disability office or Social Security office. It could take up to a year before Annabelle would start receiving benefits once Dad passes. She refuses to get the paperwork started. I understand why. It would be so unbelievably hard to deal with. One of the many things I learned from my aunt's death is that it is really hard to prove someone is dead. You would think a death certificate would be proof enough. It's not. The main reason it was difficult with my aunt was she had no will. So although I know it's pain beyond belief ... It still is so necessary.

Okay, now as far as my Dad goes ...
He was going in for his treatments. Of course when he got home he was a wreck. He couldn't keep anything down. On Tuesday of last week, May 8th, he went in for a treatment and vomited right afterwards. This alarmed the doctors. So they kept him over night. He continued to vomit and have a really hard time. After some tests they found out that he has two blood infections, cancer in his pelvis and cancer in his lower spine. Mick doesn't think he will come home. As far as I know they are still giving him the treatments per Dad's request.

Mickie told me that Dad did get my letter. She said that Annabelle read it to him because he is too weak. Remember my vision?! Anyway, she said that Annabelle cried while she read it. When she was finished she sobbed. Mickie then left the room so that Dad and Annabelle could talk. She doesn't know what my Dad said, if anything.

There is where we are. Bo and I are planning to go at the end of August. We are, however, on stand-by. God is in control.

Please continue to pray for everything. Please keep them all lifted up!
Thank You Mighty Prayer Warriors!!

So Good!

I have just finished my second book by Lori Wick. Her books are so good.

You know you are involved way to much in the characters when you pray for them! Yes, yes I did. Something happened in the story line. It shocked me. Later yesterday morning I said to God "Lord please make everything come out alright for Jackie and Clay." I then realized what I said! I apologized to the Lord for praying for people in a fictional book! I'm sure He was quite amused with me.

Needless to say I read like 8 chapters yesterday alone, just trying to find out what happens. I was not disappointed!

God has really given me back my love of reading. I did loose it for a long time. My dreams of writing are back. My dreams of ministering to people are back. God and I are in a sweet place. I am humbled and overjoyed by our relationship. He has made me glad ... O He has made me glad.

Back to the book. I HIGHLY recommend any book by Lori Wick. I have only read two. One was a standalone and one is the first book in a series. She has 7 series and a number of standalone ... 32 books in all.

I'm off to the library to get another book!

My heart aches ...

My heart aches just thinking about God's heart right now. What I'm about to share will rip at your very souls. At least I hope it does.

Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort (Way of the Master) challenged two atheists on Nightline on ABC. You can watch the show at 1p.m. online tomorrow, Wednesday. It will also be aired on television that night at 11:30p.m. However, it was a 90 minute meeting and Nightline will only show 30 minutes because that is the allotted time for the show.

Here is the link http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3148940&page=1.

Anyway, what grieves my heart is this ... The two atheists started "Blasphemy Challenge". Basically they, Brian and Kelly, ask people to send them video denying The Holy Spirit. They said and I quote "We wanted to do it in such a way where we stripped the power from religious institutions that instill fear in people," says Brian. "And we did that by blaspheming the Holy Spirit, by showing that we are not scared of this unforgivable sin."

Oh my ... Oh my ...

I can't even put into words what I am feeling. I have not gone to see the website they set up. I am almost afraid my ears would catch on fire! I can only imagine what our Father is feeling right now. How He must ache with sorrow. He sent Jesus, His only begotten Son to die for them, all of them, all of us, and they mock HIM! They laugh and scorn Him. Just like they did thousands of years ago. And yet He longs for them to know Him. To call upon the name of the Lord. To repent and acknowledge His is Lord ... before it is too late. Perhaps it may be. God does clearly say that is the unforgivable sin. Matthew 12:31

I can't believe the nerve of this honestly. I know God warned us that this stuff would be happening the closer we approach Christ's return. I know that things are being set into place but it still hurts. It still stings my heart and brings tears to my eyes.

I can't help but tell the precious Trinity how much I love them today.

I understand the psalmist when he wonders "How long will the enemy mock you, O God? Will the foe revile your name forever? Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!" Psalm 74:10-11. I can't stay there too long because God's ways are not mine. His ways are always right and true.

All I can do is grieve with Him ... love Him ... share Him ... live for Him ...
and resolve the fact that this is just the beginning.

Online picture album

Well, I think I am getting there! My cell phone provider allows me to have a free picture and blog website thru them. I tried posting some pictures but I would receive 'error' majority of the time. But this morning ... every picture I have sent has gone thru. Yeah!

I must stop after about 5 pictures because I have to do some lessons. :) I asked God this morning to help me prioritize my day. He spoke to my heart this:

1. Lessons

2. Laundry

3. Hair cuts for the boys

4. Life Group

So I am staying on task. While the boys were eating breakfast, I started laundry. When I came down stairs I noticed that they were playing so nice with Ryan's new (for his B-day) Lego toys. So I am giving them an hour. During this hour I am sending pictures and blogging. :) At 11 we are hitting the books.

Boy has God been talking to me this weekend! I'll have to tell you about that later.

So, my whole point to this particular post is ... if you want to see some pictures let me know!

I'll send you an invite.

Have a great Monday! We'll talk later.

Letter to my Dad

During my quiet time, in the morning I might add (wink wink to Laura and Bree), God put on my heart to write my Dad a letter. So I did. I had no idea what to really say. My heart was just over flowing with the fact that he doesn't know Jesus. Not only doesn't he know Him but my Dad flat out denies His existence.

In my letter I shared my desire for him to know The Savior. To understand his separation from God. I explained sin, repentance and forgiveness. I can't really tell you much more then that. While writing the letter I had a vision of Annabelle reading it to him. My dad can read but in the vision she is reading to him and she becomes saved! Then while writing I had another vision of my sister finding the letter on the kitchen and table and she gets saved too!

I don't know the exact plans our Father has but I am confident that He wants all us to know Him, I mean really know Him.

I didn't hesitate, I mailed it out. I haven't heard anything, nor have I called. Some of it is because I am a big CHICKEN. The other part is that this is our relationship ... I call or write every so often and he does the same.

I pray that this resonates with him. I am also praying that God sends someone to him to water the seed. Someone that is there to answer questions and pray.

Well, that is about it so far. Maybe the next post about my Dad will have some rejoicing in it!