I like to listen to worship music when I am getting ready in the morning doing my hair and makeup (on the days I actually put it on..) and the most amazing thing happened this week. I was listening to my Casting Crowns cd that I have listened to so many times and I got to the song called Voice of Truth and I had a totally different response to the song compared to listening to it before! The song is definitely my theme song from my trip to TN. I feel like I lived the song and so it touched my heart so strongly this time I heard it. Here are the words:
Voice of Truth
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand
But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again, "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
And the voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand
But the giant's calling out my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again, "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"
But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From the top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
I love this song with a passion! The kids must think I am nutts..I have been playing it pretty loud in the car and singing at the top of my lungs. Jesus is waiting for us with an outstretched arm. He wants to carry us out of our comfort zones and show us how to walk on water. He wants to do mighty things through us. We are weak and He is strong. We must rely on Him!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Home With a New Heart
Well I am back to the routine of my daily life, but I am changed. God definitely did surgery on my heart out there in Tennessee and now I am back with a different perspective. I feel the need to simplify my life....to get rid of the clutter and spend more time reading the Word, praying and telling more people about Jesus. It really puts it in perspective seeing homes with the only thing left being the concrete slab where the house used to lay. I heard stories of people finding parts of their neighbors bodies in the fields. I can only imagine.
God is the only thing keeping us each alive and it can all be taken away in the next breath. He knows when our number is up and until then, we need to live abundantly and without fear, courageously! We need to allow the Lord to stretch us and do things outside of our comfort zone. Pretty soon then we are comfortable with that thing that was so outside-the-box for us and then He will propel us to the next height. God has such an awesome plan for each of us.
God is the only thing keeping us each alive and it can all be taken away in the next breath. He knows when our number is up and until then, we need to live abundantly and without fear, courageously! We need to allow the Lord to stretch us and do things outside of our comfort zone. Pretty soon then we are comfortable with that thing that was so outside-the-box for us and then He will propel us to the next height. God has such an awesome plan for each of us.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Many Blessings..
So back to yesterday...I got to spend time with Tammy and then two of the young men on our trip- Seth and Josiah showed up where I was and I introduced the guys to Tammy's son Matthew. We were able to spend part of the afternoon with him and Seth talked to him about his relationship with God. Afterwards we went back together over to the property where the rest of the men were working at and then the most amazing thing happened! The owner of the property was working with our team and then Josiah boldly asked the owner if he wanted to study the Bible with us...so we had an impromptu Bible Study right outside- Josiah, Seth, me, the owner (Dave) and Antonis!! We read from Thessalonians and each took turns reading. Dave ended up reading verses about the Rapture of the church so we were able to discuss that with him and the Lord worked through Seth and others to speak truth to the man. It was incredible to experience God working through these young men! I am so blessed to be here.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Today Was The Most Awesome Day!
Today was a mountaintop experience here on our trip. I was seeking the Lord heavily last night and asking him to make my will His will..............for me to get out of the way and for Him to do what He wants to do through me and not what I want done...the Lord is so faithful. As I was trying to go to sleep and was talking to God he put on my heart that he wanted me to go back to the "Open House" today and spend more time with a lady named Tammy that I had met yesterday. I was really concerned about going there alone though. I wanted to have someone with me. Jenny here at the church spoke such truth to me this morning though..she told me that God is stretching me and there is a reason I am the only girl on this trip. He wants me to trust Him and nobody else!
So for the second day in a row I was dropped off alone at the "Open House" and I found Tammy sitting alone waiting for me!! (She didn't know she was waiting for me but God orchestrated it!) We spent some time getting to know eachother and it was a blessing. So much more happened today..will write more later..
So for the second day in a row I was dropped off alone at the "Open House" and I found Tammy sitting alone waiting for me!! (She didn't know she was waiting for me but God orchestrated it!) We spent some time getting to know eachother and it was a blessing. So much more happened today..will write more later..
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tough Trip
This trip has been rough for me. I know the Lord called me here but I keep getting discouraged and wondering what I am doing here! I have learned from the time here already that I am a true girly-girl. Often times I think I am tough because I lift small hand weights but I am totally not. I don't like getting dirty and I don't like to get my feet muddy either. I also don't like my bookbag to have dirt on it!
Today I was dropped off at a place called The Open House which is a spot in Apison, TN. They provide meals for tornado victims, provided by local restaurants. They also send teams out to help people with their property. I spent time this morning talking to a family that live right next to the Open House. They lost their home in the storms and are living in a camper while their home is being rebuilt. At lunchtime Mark picked me up and I went back to the "mountain" where the men were working and made sandwiches for them and helped out for the afternoon.
The guys have made so much progress! So much has been cleared and there was alot of good interaction today with the owner. He didn't have to work today so he came out and worked with the guys and they had some fun together throwing logs down the hill. The goal is to get all the cut down trees to the bottom of the hill, beside the road so that they can be picked up. We were able to pray with the owner at the end of the afternoon as the rain started falling and it was a blessed time. I spent some time talking to him too and he was actually on a business trip during the storms and missed it. When he got back into town though he said that the first thing he was concerned about was the people..it wasn't the material things. We can always replace our stuff but people can't be replaced.
We have been showering at the YMCA which is several miles from the church in the heart of the city. I feel kind of silly walking into the Y covered in dirt. It's good to get clean!
My camera broke yesterday and I am so bummed. So all I have now to offer are my words.
Please pray for me- I need encouragement!
Until tomorrow...
Today I was dropped off at a place called The Open House which is a spot in Apison, TN. They provide meals for tornado victims, provided by local restaurants. They also send teams out to help people with their property. I spent time this morning talking to a family that live right next to the Open House. They lost their home in the storms and are living in a camper while their home is being rebuilt. At lunchtime Mark picked me up and I went back to the "mountain" where the men were working and made sandwiches for them and helped out for the afternoon.
The guys have made so much progress! So much has been cleared and there was alot of good interaction today with the owner. He didn't have to work today so he came out and worked with the guys and they had some fun together throwing logs down the hill. The goal is to get all the cut down trees to the bottom of the hill, beside the road so that they can be picked up. We were able to pray with the owner at the end of the afternoon as the rain started falling and it was a blessed time. I spent some time talking to him too and he was actually on a business trip during the storms and missed it. When he got back into town though he said that the first thing he was concerned about was the people..it wasn't the material things. We can always replace our stuff but people can't be replaced.
We have been showering at the YMCA which is several miles from the church in the heart of the city. I feel kind of silly walking into the Y covered in dirt. It's good to get clean!
My camera broke yesterday and I am so bummed. So all I have now to offer are my words.
Please pray for me- I need encouragement!
Until tomorrow...
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Visit with Mary
Today I was blessed to meet Harry & Mary Dewitt who also live in Ringgold, GA. Mary is suffering from a severe case of shingles on top of all the problems that the tornado left behind. Please pray for her! We spent the day together and I enjoyed my time with her.
The men continued their work on the property from yesterday but they also had a Bobcat to help with the work. It rained in the afternoon though and it ended up getting stuck in a ditch. They met the owner of the house and were able to pray with him. Antonis hacked and hacked on a tree with an ax and has some pictures on his blog.
Tomorrow I am going out to a place called the Open House to help serve people in the community. I am told that it is a place where they serve food and other things to people in need. I'm not really sure what to expect but trusting the Lord!
We had severe thunderstorms tonight and it was a little scary. The power went out and we ate our dinner in the dark by flashlights! Here's hoping a tornado doesn't come while we are still here.
The men continued their work on the property from yesterday but they also had a Bobcat to help with the work. It rained in the afternoon though and it ended up getting stuck in a ditch. They met the owner of the house and were able to pray with him. Antonis hacked and hacked on a tree with an ax and has some pictures on his blog.
We had severe thunderstorms tonight and it was a little scary. The power went out and we ate our dinner in the dark by flashlights! Here's hoping a tornado doesn't come while we are still here.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Ringgold, GA
It was a tough day- it felt like 100 degrees and I spent my time grabbing branches and limbs of trees off the ground and putting them over by the side of the road so that they can be picked up later in the week. It was slow moving work and with all the devastation I felt like I was barely making any difference. The men were working with power saws and cutting down trees that were still standing, yet many were bent and twisted. Antonis had a blast trying to knock down several trees with an ax.
Here are some photos of the afternoon:
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Getting Ready for Tennessee
We leave early at 7:45AM tomorrow morning for our trip over to Calvary Chapel Chattanooga. Bob and I went out last night to Good Will and found some brown work shoes for me to wear. They have good traction on the bottom and will protect my feet well. At first I thought I was going to be working in the kitchen alot of the time preparing meals but we found out that the church out there is going to provide our dinners so I only will have to help out with breakfast and lunch for 11 of us going from my church. I'm not sure how the Lord will use me during the day but I'm prepared to help out in any way! I'm not afraid of doing the physical work as long as I am able. I'm really hoping the Lord will provide people I can talk to and especially LISTEN to that have suffered through the storms.
In my quiet time this morning the Lord gave me some beautiful scripture:
Nehemiah 8:10 Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!
Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Psalm 116:13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.
In my quiet time this morning the Lord gave me some beautiful scripture:
Nehemiah 8:10 Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!
Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Psalm 116:13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Fun Pics
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
God is SO TRUSTWORTHY
I have been going through an amazing time with the Lord over the past week or two where I keep facing sets of conflicting circumstances where there is a problem and I don't know how to solve it, but then God comes in and totally takes care of the situation without me doing ANYTHING. I have started documenting the occurences because there have been so many in such a short period of time that I am clearly seeing that God is trying to teach me something.
For example, when I first heard about the trip to Apison, TN with church, I thought it was going to be the second week of June..that was the week of the HEAV convention and I knew I couldn't go on the trip and miss the convention I had already paid for. That was a major conflict because God had put the desire to reach out to tornado victims on my heart and I couldn't understand why it was going to fall on a week that I couldn't go! Then lo and behold..the trip got changed to the 4th week of June and I had absolutely nothing scheduled for that week!! Thank you Lord!!
Then I was totally stressing because we started our summer schedule last week and I forgot about one of Antonis's appointments that we normally go to every Tuesday morning. The office called and wanted to charge me a $65 no-show fee!! That was upsetting considering we have been there faithfully for almost 6 months and have been patient with the office as they have gone through changes that have inconvienced us in the past. I totally did not want to pay that money (what a waste of the money God has entrusted us with!) and they told me that my son couldn't come to his next appointment until it was paid. So that was looming and then lo and behold..I get to the appointment and the gal we work with totally understood where I was coming from and said she'd talk to the owner to work it out! Thank you Lord!
Then today we faced another dilemma...this trip to Apison, TN has been planned for a couple weeks now and we found out that my son's ALL STAR baseball team was going to be having their practice/game week the same week as the trip to Tennessee! So now we had to decide which he was going to miss and we decided it would have to be the baseball. He was really disappointed but we knew God wants him to be there on the trip. So we spent the evening with him grumbling and complaining and then lo and behold..Bob gets a call from the coach late tonight saying that they moved the ALL STAR week to July. THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And these were just a few of the things that I have come up. There are several more to the point where I had to start journaling it all. The Lord is telling me that I need to trust Him in the circumstances of my life. He is in control of everything and He has a perfect will and often times the best thing to do when there is that problem situation is to just sit still and WAIT ON THE LORD!!!!!!!!! Not sit still and stress...or sit still and worry..but to sit on your knees and cry out to God and tell Him you don't know what to do but you know He does and that you will wait for Him to show you the way! He can move mountains. He can change impossible situations. He orchestrates all the details in our lives for our GOOD. It might be painful but in the end, it's best.
For example, when I first heard about the trip to Apison, TN with church, I thought it was going to be the second week of June..that was the week of the HEAV convention and I knew I couldn't go on the trip and miss the convention I had already paid for. That was a major conflict because God had put the desire to reach out to tornado victims on my heart and I couldn't understand why it was going to fall on a week that I couldn't go! Then lo and behold..the trip got changed to the 4th week of June and I had absolutely nothing scheduled for that week!! Thank you Lord!!
Then I was totally stressing because we started our summer schedule last week and I forgot about one of Antonis's appointments that we normally go to every Tuesday morning. The office called and wanted to charge me a $65 no-show fee!! That was upsetting considering we have been there faithfully for almost 6 months and have been patient with the office as they have gone through changes that have inconvienced us in the past. I totally did not want to pay that money (what a waste of the money God has entrusted us with!) and they told me that my son couldn't come to his next appointment until it was paid. So that was looming and then lo and behold..I get to the appointment and the gal we work with totally understood where I was coming from and said she'd talk to the owner to work it out! Thank you Lord!
Then today we faced another dilemma...this trip to Apison, TN has been planned for a couple weeks now and we found out that my son's ALL STAR baseball team was going to be having their practice/game week the same week as the trip to Tennessee! So now we had to decide which he was going to miss and we decided it would have to be the baseball. He was really disappointed but we knew God wants him to be there on the trip. So we spent the evening with him grumbling and complaining and then lo and behold..Bob gets a call from the coach late tonight saying that they moved the ALL STAR week to July. THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And these were just a few of the things that I have come up. There are several more to the point where I had to start journaling it all. The Lord is telling me that I need to trust Him in the circumstances of my life. He is in control of everything and He has a perfect will and often times the best thing to do when there is that problem situation is to just sit still and WAIT ON THE LORD!!!!!!!!! Not sit still and stress...or sit still and worry..but to sit on your knees and cry out to God and tell Him you don't know what to do but you know He does and that you will wait for Him to show you the way! He can move mountains. He can change impossible situations. He orchestrates all the details in our lives for our GOOD. It might be painful but in the end, it's best.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Outta My Comfort Zone & Loving It!!
Our trip to Apison, TN to help tornado victims is fast approaching..we leave Sunday morning at 9AM from the church! It's funny the thoughts that go through your mind after you've committed something to the Lord. My flesh would rather stay home and stay snuggy in my own bed. There are so many unknowns about the trip and it makes it a faith walk. I just have to trust that God is calling me there and He has "good works" planned in advance for me to do there. Divine appointments with people I've never met before...I am excited and scared at the same time! This will be my first outreach trip and the first for my son too. I'm glad we are able to go together. I just gotta keep my eyes on the Lord and not look to the left or the right.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Homeschooling Convention- Friday & Saturday
Bob and I were blessed this weekend to attend the Homeschooling Convention in Richmond together for the second year. Antonis went to his Dad's house and Amanda came over to stay with the younger kids. It was a great time..it's called a homeschooling convention but it truly was like being on a "retreat" together to get closer to God. The Lord spoke many things to my heart this past weekend.
One thing He reminded me is that God is the one that does the work in my children's hearts. I am not responsible for how close they are to God. Sure, I need to be diligent in sharing my faith with them and teaching them about God, reading the Bible and praying together..but the Lord is the one that does the work in their hearts! If my child is sold out for Christ I can't take the credit for that. I also am not to condemn myself if my child is not walking in the light. The Lord is in charge of all and has a plan! If the Lord saved me, He can surely save each one of my offspring!! He can save ANYONE!!!!!!!!
He also spoke to my heart about how there is no certain curriculum that is the answer to drawing my child closer to God. There is so much stuff out there and there is a tendency to think that a certain devotional book or particular product is going to work miracles..but again..it is only God that changes the heart through prayer and his word. Again, I need to be diligent to get my children into the Word but because I don't have the latest character building study on SELF-CONTROL or PATIENCE does not mean my child is not going to develop this fruit. Same thing with buying DVDS on improving your marriage or helping your relationship with your child, etc. The Lord is the one that does the work and He is not bound to any particular product. He may choose to use one of these resource in our lives if it's getting us into His Word but the bottom line is that Him and His Word is all we need!!!!!!!! I hope this makes sense!
One thing He reminded me is that God is the one that does the work in my children's hearts. I am not responsible for how close they are to God. Sure, I need to be diligent in sharing my faith with them and teaching them about God, reading the Bible and praying together..but the Lord is the one that does the work in their hearts! If my child is sold out for Christ I can't take the credit for that. I also am not to condemn myself if my child is not walking in the light. The Lord is in charge of all and has a plan! If the Lord saved me, He can surely save each one of my offspring!! He can save ANYONE!!!!!!!!
He also spoke to my heart about how there is no certain curriculum that is the answer to drawing my child closer to God. There is so much stuff out there and there is a tendency to think that a certain devotional book or particular product is going to work miracles..but again..it is only God that changes the heart through prayer and his word. Again, I need to be diligent to get my children into the Word but because I don't have the latest character building study on SELF-CONTROL or PATIENCE does not mean my child is not going to develop this fruit. Same thing with buying DVDS on improving your marriage or helping your relationship with your child, etc. The Lord is the one that does the work and He is not bound to any particular product. He may choose to use one of these resource in our lives if it's getting us into His Word but the bottom line is that Him and His Word is all we need!!!!!!!! I hope this makes sense!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
God Answers Prayers!
Today I was so blessed to spend the morning with my friend Heidi and her children. It had been a long while since we had seen eachother. A while back, I had hurt her unintentionally, and it hurt my heart. I prayed to God for her and our friendship. The Lord is so faithful..she has been reaching back out to me. I hope she will keep her heart open wide so that we can enjoy all God has planned for our friendship.
I know how hard it can be when a friend wounds you. Your flesh just wants to shut the other person out and not allow them to come back in and possibly hurt you again. God doesn't want us to hunker down though and protect ourselves- He is our Protector and He wants us to trust Him with the situation. He loves us and has a plan to prosper us and not to harm us. He wants us to turn to Him with all our hurts and mend us so His love can continue to flow through us.
In 2 Chronicles Chapter 30 it describes a time when the Israelites were turning their hearts back to the Lord under King Hezekiah. In verse 27 it says, "Then the priests and Levites arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came up to [God's] holy habitation in heaven." I'm here to tell you that God still hears our prayers today! He is in the business of healing relationships that are broken. He softens hearts. Thank you Father.
I know how hard it can be when a friend wounds you. Your flesh just wants to shut the other person out and not allow them to come back in and possibly hurt you again. God doesn't want us to hunker down though and protect ourselves- He is our Protector and He wants us to trust Him with the situation. He loves us and has a plan to prosper us and not to harm us. He wants us to turn to Him with all our hurts and mend us so His love can continue to flow through us.
In 2 Chronicles Chapter 30 it describes a time when the Israelites were turning their hearts back to the Lord under King Hezekiah. In verse 27 it says, "Then the priests and Levites arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came up to [God's] holy habitation in heaven." I'm here to tell you that God still hears our prayers today! He is in the business of healing relationships that are broken. He softens hearts. Thank you Father.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
God Meets Us
I've been thinking today about God's mercy and goodness and how He meets us where we are at when we turn our hearts to Him. The girls have their papers on the counter from Sunday School and it shows the vicious cycle the Israelites in the Old Testament of the Bible would go through with their walk with God...
Psalm 91:15 says "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him." Also Proverbs 8: 17 says, "those who diligently seek me will find me."
- IDOLATRY/SIN/REFUSAL TO REPENT
- GOD PUNISHES THROUGH OPPRESSORS
- ISRAEL CRIES OUT & REPENTS
- GOD HAS PITY & DELIVERS!
Psalm 91:15 says "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him." Also Proverbs 8: 17 says, "those who diligently seek me will find me."
Antonis Has A Blog Too!
Check out the link to Airsoft Assassin on the right and that would be the work of my oldest.
Enjoy
Enjoy
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Eyes on Him
I just love the stories in the Old Testament of the Bible..they are so rich in application for our lives today.
Yesterday I was reading in the book of 2 Chronicles (following the Gideons Daily Bible Reading Calendar) and I learned about King Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, and the time when a great multitude of men came to make war against him. 2 Chronicles 20:12 says, "O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You."
I just love the abandonment and surrender to the Lord that is shown here! So many times in our lives we find ourselves at those crossroads where we don't know what to do. Something is mounting against us and we are afraid and don't know how to handle it. God has the answers to all of our struggles and difficulties we are facing in our lives. Actually, He IS the answer. He just wants us to surrender our burdens to Him. To lay them at His feet and let Him take it from there.
What does it mean to put our "eyes on Him" or to "gaze at Him"? To me that means to focus on God and not on our circumstances. It means to pray to Him..read His Word..to spend time thanking Him and praising Him. He wants to hear from you. You are so precious to Him. Look up!
Yesterday I was reading in the book of 2 Chronicles (following the Gideons Daily Bible Reading Calendar) and I learned about King Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, and the time when a great multitude of men came to make war against him. 2 Chronicles 20:12 says, "O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You."
I just love the abandonment and surrender to the Lord that is shown here! So many times in our lives we find ourselves at those crossroads where we don't know what to do. Something is mounting against us and we are afraid and don't know how to handle it. God has the answers to all of our struggles and difficulties we are facing in our lives. Actually, He IS the answer. He just wants us to surrender our burdens to Him. To lay them at His feet and let Him take it from there.
What does it mean to put our "eyes on Him" or to "gaze at Him"? To me that means to focus on God and not on our circumstances. It means to pray to Him..read His Word..to spend time thanking Him and praising Him. He wants to hear from you. You are so precious to Him. Look up!
Monday, June 6, 2011
I Have A Teenager!!
Antonis turned 13 years old yesterday and in one way it seems like I've known him my whole lifetime and in another way it seems like the time has gone so fast. Bob watched the younger kids so that Antonis and I could spend the afternoon together. It is fun going places alone just he and I!
I can remember the time when he couldn't even sit still. I would lose him under the pews in our old Lutheran church! He is still a very active young man but he also has moments of sitting and we can go enjoy a meal at Outback like we did last night. I treasured that time with him, riding in the car and listening to the Newsboys. I hope we'll continue to have these dates together as the years go by...
We topped off the evening with watching the Passion of the Christ together. I had never seen it or wanted to see it, but our church showing it recently, stirred something in my heart and I decided it was time. What a powerful movie showing what Jesus endured to pay the price for our sins. He went through all that pain and He was INNOCENT! I also thought it was fascinating the way Satan was depicted and woven throughout the movie. It was the work of the devil to kill Jesus on the cross but God used it for good to redeem us to Himself! He knew before the foundations of the world that Jesus would be slain for our sins; to give us a way back to Him. He knows EVERYTHING!! Thank you Lord!
I can remember the time when he couldn't even sit still. I would lose him under the pews in our old Lutheran church! He is still a very active young man but he also has moments of sitting and we can go enjoy a meal at Outback like we did last night. I treasured that time with him, riding in the car and listening to the Newsboys. I hope we'll continue to have these dates together as the years go by...
We topped off the evening with watching the Passion of the Christ together. I had never seen it or wanted to see it, but our church showing it recently, stirred something in my heart and I decided it was time. What a powerful movie showing what Jesus endured to pay the price for our sins. He went through all that pain and He was INNOCENT! I also thought it was fascinating the way Satan was depicted and woven throughout the movie. It was the work of the devil to kill Jesus on the cross but God used it for good to redeem us to Himself! He knew before the foundations of the world that Jesus would be slain for our sins; to give us a way back to Him. He knows EVERYTHING!! Thank you Lord!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
The Twins Are 7!!
We celebrated Kalista & Karisma's 7th birthday today by spending the day at Kings Dominion. It is amazing to me how I used to go there when I was a little girl and now I am taking my three little girls there!! It brought tears to my eyes as we walked in the park together. Some things are different there but some things haven't changed and it's been like 30 years!!
My heart was hurting though as we walked through the park and I saw all the tatoos and bare skin (in places that should be covered!!) and young people that still look like babies in the face but just can't get their hands off of eachother. I prayed for them (actually everyone at Kings Dominion) and as we stood in line for the Log Fume I prayed for the purity of my daughters. I don't know what choices they will make as they get older but I am doing all I can now to pray and teach them to live for Jesus and not get sucked into and follow the ways of the world.
Our Mother's Helper, Amanda, who started working with our family back in January has been such an awesome role model in our daughters' lives. She will soon be 22 years old and she is saving her first kiss for her husband! Praise be to God for this young lady to be standing firm against the immoral culture surrounding us. Jesus truly gives us power over sin if we let Him into our hearts!
My heart was hurting though as we walked through the park and I saw all the tatoos and bare skin (in places that should be covered!!) and young people that still look like babies in the face but just can't get their hands off of eachother. I prayed for them (actually everyone at Kings Dominion) and as we stood in line for the Log Fume I prayed for the purity of my daughters. I don't know what choices they will make as they get older but I am doing all I can now to pray and teach them to live for Jesus and not get sucked into and follow the ways of the world.
Our Mother's Helper, Amanda, who started working with our family back in January has been such an awesome role model in our daughters' lives. She will soon be 22 years old and she is saving her first kiss for her husband! Praise be to God for this young lady to be standing firm against the immoral culture surrounding us. Jesus truly gives us power over sin if we let Him into our hearts!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Last Day of School!!!
Well this is it...the last day of school!!! We have completed 180 days of teaching and our summer break officially BEGINS!! WOO HOO!!!!!!! We are going to miss Amanda, our "Mother's Helper" but the kids will see her again soon. She will be coming to take care of them while Bob and I go to the homeschooling convention in Richmond next weekend.
She has been one of God's greatest provisions to me this year. He saw me as I struggled and tried to get school done with the kids on my own last year. Bob mentioned several times that we needed to "get someone in here" to help but the question in my mind was always....who?? I didn't know anyone that would be available and so I just let the idea go. I think the idea of getting someone to help bothered me too..after all..the other homeschool Moms seemed to be able to get by on their own! Why couldn't I handle this?
I finally got to a breaking point before the Christmas break. I was entertaining those thoughts of, "I can't do this anymore!" and I started looking for a way out. I called a private school to see if I could get Antonis in mid-year after the break. I reached out to HSLDA (the Homeschool Legal Defense Association) with a cry for help. I sent an email saying that homeschooling wasn't working for me and what am I doing wrong?
I was praying to God through this time and asking Him to let me know if I was going somewhere He didn't want me to be...sure enough.. a few hours after my email to HSLDA I received a call from Dianne Craft. The Lord used here to speak truth to me and gently guide me back to where I needed to be- homeschooling ALL of my children! She reminded me that my challenges with him were not just going to go away if I sent him away to school during the day. All of his struggles would go with him and then he would come home in the afternoon with homework that we'd have to contend with late in the day. Having him with me allows me to know exactly what's going on with him and help him one-one. He also gets his work done before 4pm and we don't have to work late in the day when he'd rather be PLAYING OUTSIDE!!
Shortly after, we put the word out that we needed a helper and the Lord provided immediately!! If only, I would trust Him more!! I didn't know who would be able to help us, but He did. He had it all planned out.
Angela
She has been one of God's greatest provisions to me this year. He saw me as I struggled and tried to get school done with the kids on my own last year. Bob mentioned several times that we needed to "get someone in here" to help but the question in my mind was always....who?? I didn't know anyone that would be available and so I just let the idea go. I think the idea of getting someone to help bothered me too..after all..the other homeschool Moms seemed to be able to get by on their own! Why couldn't I handle this?
I finally got to a breaking point before the Christmas break. I was entertaining those thoughts of, "I can't do this anymore!" and I started looking for a way out. I called a private school to see if I could get Antonis in mid-year after the break. I reached out to HSLDA (the Homeschool Legal Defense Association) with a cry for help. I sent an email saying that homeschooling wasn't working for me and what am I doing wrong?
I was praying to God through this time and asking Him to let me know if I was going somewhere He didn't want me to be...sure enough.. a few hours after my email to HSLDA I received a call from Dianne Craft. The Lord used here to speak truth to me and gently guide me back to where I needed to be- homeschooling ALL of my children! She reminded me that my challenges with him were not just going to go away if I sent him away to school during the day. All of his struggles would go with him and then he would come home in the afternoon with homework that we'd have to contend with late in the day. Having him with me allows me to know exactly what's going on with him and help him one-one. He also gets his work done before 4pm and we don't have to work late in the day when he'd rather be PLAYING OUTSIDE!!
Shortly after, we put the word out that we needed a helper and the Lord provided immediately!! If only, I would trust Him more!! I didn't know who would be able to help us, but He did. He had it all planned out.
Angela
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Obedience
1 Chronicles 16: 8-9 says..give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wonderous works.
The Lord spoke to me through these verses on the morning of May 25th and confirmed to me that I need to start my own Blog! I have been following the blogs of others but now it's time to make my own story known too about what God is doing through me and my family.
I am so excited..the Lord also spoke to my heart that morning and told me He wanted me to go help the tornado victims!! I told my husband about it later that day but wasn't sure how to make it happen.
I shared my heart with several people from church and there were others who shared that heart and a trip has been planned for the 19th through the 25th of June to Apison, Tennessee! The timing is perfect too! We have no plans for that week! Antonis will be coming with me and I will be hoping and praying for God to do great things that week.
The Lord spoke to me through these verses on the morning of May 25th and confirmed to me that I need to start my own Blog! I have been following the blogs of others but now it's time to make my own story known too about what God is doing through me and my family.
I am so excited..the Lord also spoke to my heart that morning and told me He wanted me to go help the tornado victims!! I told my husband about it later that day but wasn't sure how to make it happen.
I shared my heart with several people from church and there were others who shared that heart and a trip has been planned for the 19th through the 25th of June to Apison, Tennessee! The timing is perfect too! We have no plans for that week! Antonis will be coming with me and I will be hoping and praying for God to do great things that week.
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