God is Drawing Me

As I was waiting to be baptized in water on June 9, 2013, I fell on my face before God and begged Him to let this be the beginning of my life IN Christ. IN Christ. No more empty promises to Him, no more faking anything, no more going through the motions, no more counterfeit worship. No. I crave so much to live IN Him, to move and have my being IN Him. As I surrendered to Him and made a public confession of my faith and devotion on that night in June, I believe that God has begun to make changes in me that has never taken place before. On this beautiful Saturday morning, I learned what walking in Christ should look like and where my walk is exactly. 

Colossians 2:6 -  "Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." 

     "If we have received Christ Himself in our inmost hearts, our new life will display its intimate acquaintance with Him by a walk of faith in Him. Walking implies action. Our Christian life is not to be confined to our closet; our belief must be revealed in our practice. If a man walks in Christ, then he must act as Christ would act; since Christ is in him - his hope, his love, his joy, his life - he is the reflection of the image of Jesus; and men will say of that man, "He is like his Master; he lives like Jesus Christ.

     Walking signifies progress. "So walk in Him." Proceed from grace to grace; run forward until you reach the ultimate degree of knowledge that a man can attain concerning Christ. Walking implies continuance. There must be a continual abiding in Christ."

Stop. Is my life displaying an intimate acquaintance with Christ? No. I know that when I look at myself, I am still seeing me instead of Him. I have not been abiding in Christ on a continual basis. *SIGH* Lord, I am sorry. Please help me. 

     "Many Christians think that in the morning and evening they ought to come into the company of Jesus, but regard the rest of the day as their own: But this is poor living; we should always be with Him, treading in His steps and doing His will."

WOW! I've never thought of it like that before, but it's so true! I have been mindful of God, of Jesus, only in those times that I have set apart to spend with Him. The rest of my day is just that... mine. Oh Lord, please help me!

     "Walking also implies habit. When we speak of a man's walk and conversation, we mean his habits, the constant theme of his life.

     Now, if we sometimes enjoy Christ and then forget Him, sometimes call Him ours and then lose our hold, that is not a habit; we do not walk in Him. We must keep to Him, cling to Him, never let Him go, but live and have our being in Him."

My heart is further saddened as I am more convicted here. I have not been walking in Christ, at least not continually. This section describes me exactly - sometimes enjoying Christ and then forgetting Him, sometimes calling Him mine and then losing my hold to His hand - and the Holy Spirit is gently showing this to me. Christ is not yet the constant theme of my life. My spirit cries out to God to make me His beyond a shadow of a doubt.   

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that because I'm not perfect, I'm not being saved. No. I am saying that I am so fickle, inconsistent, and even distant. If I desire to walk in Him, then I need to not lose heart in doing good. I need to pray without ceasing. I need to turn my mind towards Him ALL the time... not just in the mornings or evenings when I am praying. I don't want to make excuses. Jesus willingly gave his life unto death - a painful beyond understanding death - on a cross for my sins. I owe Him much more than I am giving Him.  

     "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him"; persevere in the same way in which you began and just as at the beginnig Christ Jesus was the trust of your faith, the source of your life, the principle of your action, and the joy of your spirit, so let Him be the same until life's end, the same when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death and enter into the joy and the rest that remain for the people of God. O Holy Spirit, enable us to obey this heavenly precept."

Thank You, Lord, for Your faithfulness even when I am lazy and selfish. You are good and your love endures forever. Thank You for being so gentle in showing me that I have wavered. You are with me, leading me in the everlasting way, and giving me strength when I need it. Yes, Lord, enable me to cling to You fervently and continually.  In Jesus' great and mighty name I pray!

(Devotional material is taken from "Morning and Evening", written by C.H. Surgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. TruthforLife.org)

Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ October 18, 2013

IN OUR HOMESCHOOL THIS WEEK...

We got back to formal school lessons after being off for 2 weeks. In my last post, I mentioned that I really needed to get a schedule for us. We were supposed to implement that this week, but my hubby surprised me by not going to work Monday morning b/c he took the week off. Of course, this threw everything off for me schedule-wise, but we still got our school work done and I was able to get a few more things unpacked. :-) 

We played a couple of math games that my kids thought were fun. The first game was called Guess My Number. One child wrote down a number 1-15 and the other one had to guess what the number was. The first child says higher or lower until the second child guessed the right number. Then they switch so the second child writes down a new number and the first one guesses. This game kept them occupied for about half and hour. 

The second game was called Block Grab. We have a set of unifix cubes that we are using in our curriculum this year. We took them all apart and put them in a pile. One person grabs a handful and tries to guess how many he has in his hand. After you guess, you count them to see how many you actually have. This was in introductory game to estimation and volume. Pretty clever, I thought. 

Adelle and Jonathan had lots of fun with both games. They are both really enjoying this curriculum this year. That makes this mama happy.  :-) 

MY FAVORITE THING THIS WEEK WAS...

Seeing my children excited to learn. Jonathan not only asked for his worksheets, but he also asked to practice letter blends. 

MY CHILDREN'S FAVORITE THING THIS WEEK WAS...

Having Papa Man home. That means getting to have an extra movie night. We usually reserve movie viewing for the weekends, but when we're on vacation, we watch an extra movie or two. This week was no exception to that. Having Papa home also meant extra hugs and kisses. 

THINGS I'M WORKING ON...

I'm working on making wreaths for my front door. 

I made a simple fall wreath last weekend. I am no crafter, but this one was easy enough. It's just wire bent into a circle, scrap material cut into strips and then tied onto the wire. Can't get more simple than that! I am looking for supplies (inexpensively) to make more for future seasons and maybe even to give away as gifts. If you're looking to get rid of scrap material, I'll take it! :-)

A PHOTO, VIDEO OR QUOTE TO SHARE...

Mandy, over at Biblical Homemaking, really encouraged me this week with her post about overcoming your heavy burdens. I want to share a quote from her post. 

"When I had been feeling down or overwhelmed or sad, or had a desire to dwell on something that I shouldn't over the past few months, He taught me something that helped me leave those feelings behind and that has, without fail, restored my joy. Every time I think about a situation or want to dwell on something that makes me sad, angry, or upset, I ask Him to help me, and here's what He tells my heart:

'Set your mind of things above, not on thing on the earth.'

'Fix your eyes on me', He says to my spirit. Set your mind on what is good - and the only thing that is truly good is Jesus Himself."

Renewed Strength for a New Strategy

The Dilemma: 

We've been in our new house for just over 2 months now. Would you expect my house to be unpacked and perfectly organized by now? Maybe you don't expect that at all and maybe I shouldn't, but the truth is that I feel like the chaos is eating devouring me alive! 

We moved in and we started school right away. Was that such a good idea?

We usually do school in the mornings and chores in the afternoons. By the time we're done with all of that, it's time to get dinner going and spend time with Papa Man (as the kids call him). So where does the unpacking and organizing come in? I have no clue. We've taken a week off from formal school lessons so I can get some of that done. I did not get very far... or so it seems. So we've taken a couple of more days off (and that's partly to do with visiting the state fair).  

With all that being said, I have been seriously struggling these past 2 weeks. I feel hopeless a lot, my appetite has decreased (not so bad for the weight I'm trying to loose) and if I have a chance to sleep, I'm taking it. Self-pity is taking over and I've given in to the thoughts of "I shouldn't be homeschooling, I'm not creative or active enough. I'm not good enough. My kids need a better Mama (and teacher)."   

All of this has dragged me down, indeed. 

The Plan:

God is so good and gracious to gently call me back to Him and to show me a few adjustments that need to be made. First, He has reminded me that I am His and He loves me no matter what. He also reminded me to stop depending on myself (once again), and to rely on Him. He reminded me to trust, to be confident in Him with ALL my heart, not relying on my own understanding and to acknowledge Him in ALL my ways and He will direct and make my paths straight. (Prov. 3:5-6) I CAN do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength! (Phil 4:13)

Next, He has dropped a new plan of action into my mind. A different approach to manage the task of homeschooling and homemaking. I must make it a matter high importance to get up early in the mornings to spend time communing with God Almighty. I cannot pour out His love to my children unless I am filled up with it myself. That comes by spending quality time with Him. This is not only for my children's sake, but it is vital to my very soul. 

How do I undertake homeschooling, cleaning the house and unpacking/organizing? The solution the Lord gave me is so simple, I am astonished that I didn't think of it earlier and on my own! 

The curriculum we are using this year has us doing lessons Monday - Thursday. Friday is set aside for exploring nature and being outside most of the time. Handwriting and reading is the only school lessons we do on Fridays and that takes very little time. Therefore, I can spend majority of Fridays (and Saturdays) working on unpacking and organizing. So we will do school work and chores Mon.-Thurs. and unpack/organize Fri.-Sat. giving it all a rest on Sundays.  Brilliant.  Thank You, Lord!

The next task is to come up with a schedule, a little more rigid than just a routine. We've always had a routine, just not one that sticks to the clock.  My husband has been telling me that I really need to get a clock schedule for us and to stick with it. He means for us to go to bed at a specific time each night, get up at a set time each morning, eat meals at the same time every day, etc....  We've been pretty good about getting the kids to bed somewhere between 8pm and 9pm every night. Sometimes they get to bed earlier, sometimes later, depending on how our day has gone, but rarely later than 9pm. 

I have this "thing" about making the kids get out of bed in the mornings. I have felt that if they need a little more rest, then let them rest. However, I am running into a problem with that. Adelle is more than willing to just sleep to her heart's content... kinda like me. So it's becoming a downward spiral to super laziness. Not ideal. Not my goal. I am seeing that maybe my husband is correct here. So these next few days I will be in prayer about what time we should do what and just how specific this clock schedule will be. My goal is to implement this new strategy come Monday. 

What I am about to say is said a lot, but one can't help it when it's true: 

God is good ALL the time! 

All the time God IS good!

The Homeshool Mother's Journal ~ October 4, 2013

IN MY LIFE THIS WEEK...

What happened to my devotion to God? Do I not believe Him and His word? Do I not trust Him? Did I not resolve to give Him my all and leave the results up to Him?  How can I go for days without spending time with God if I believe & trust Him and have devoted my life to Him?  

IN OUR HOMESCHOOL THIS WEEK...

We have taken a week off from formal lessons, however, the kids have still been learning just from their natural curiosity. For example, they were playing with the magnet letters and Adelle started to build sentences. I reminded her that we read left to right, top to bottom and then showed her how to put the words in order. She got some spelling in with that little activity that she created herself. Jonathan began to place his letters in alphabet order. If that's not learning, I don't know what is. 

THINGS I'M WORKING ON...

I have spent the week getting the house organized, the school/dining room specifically. I am no good at organizing. I have a difficult time figuring out where and how to store things. It doesn't help that I don't enjoy doing these kids of things. That's not to say that I delight a messy house. 

I AM BAKING...

It's that time of year again to bake, bake, bake! I enjoy baking and giving the goodies away. I don't cook or bake from scratch (most of the time) so I was delighted when I found a pumpkin cake mix at the store last week. I baked it last weekend and took it to our church potluck dinner that we had after service last week. I was disappointed with it though. It had too much cinnamon flavor and you could just tell it came from a box. I think I'll stick to making this cake from scratch like I used to. 

I AM THANKFUL FOR...

My husband, who is so loving, patient and hard working. 

A PHOTO, VIDEO, QUOTE TO SHARE...

I just thought you'd like to know. :-)

Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ 9/27/13

I've gotten out of the routine of doing this each week and I really need to get back to it. Journaling in the purpose behind this blog. So here it goes....

IN MY LIFE THIS WEEK...

I have been seeking ways to be more mindful of God throughout the day. I am seeking to be closer to God in an intimate way. I don't want to think of Him only during my prayer times. I want to pray without ceasing and have my mind set on Him constantly! I have also been under the weather with my sinuses hurting and swelling. I'm also discovering that I am not Super Woman... I can't do it all.

IN OUR HOMESCHOOL THIS WEEK...

We have had to rearrange our schedule a little due to doctor appointments. Nonetheless, we are marching forward. In Bible, we're discovering the book of Proverbs and are committing Proverbs 9:10 to memory. In phonics, we have reviewed the vowel sounds and are beginning to learn different sounds that letters make. For example, s sometimes sounds like z. In math we're discovering number order. We are continuing to practice handwriting as well. This all sounds exciting, eh?

PLACES WE ARE GOING, PEOPLE WE'RE SEEING...
Tuesday we had a field trip to Krispy Kreme. We all got a free hot donut and a drink. We were supposed to listen to one of the bakers talk about the process of making the donuts, but they were short-staffed and he wasn't able to come talk to us. It's ok. At least we got to spend some time with our fellow homeschool friends. Wednesday the kids got to hang out with our Pastor for a bit while I went to the doctor for some lab work... my annual check-up. Thursday I had a dental cleaning appointment, so Adelle and Jonathan got to spend some time with Grandma. It has been a crazy week!

HELPFUL HOMESCHOOL TIPS/ADVICE...

If you move into a new house at the beginning of the school year, go ahead and focus on getting most of the boxes unpacked and organized. It's ok to start school at a later date. Flexibility is the beauty of homeschooling... a lesson I'm still learning. 

MY KIDDO'S FAVORITE THING WAS...

Adelle really enjoyed cooking dinner with me this week. I need to get better at involving the children more in things like that. Jonathan enjoyed playing aggravation with Grandma and winning!

I AM READING...

A book called Follow Me written by David Platt. The back of the book says, "Is it possible for people to say they believe in Jesus but not truly be born again? Is it possible for people to claim they have accepted Christ into their hearts yet not actually be Christians? Pastor David Platt is convinced that many people in our churches today are misled as to what it truly means to be a follower of Christ." This is a very intriguing book and it says some things that I believe are true. It is thought-provoking indeed!

A QUOTE TO SHARE...
"My word for the day: Purity. I desire for my motives to be pure, in everything I say, in everything I do and even in my thoughts - that they will be captive to the obedience of Christ." ~Me

Loving Our New Curriculum

Last school year was a tremendous struggle for us. Our previous curriculum was very rigorous and left us exhausted. By the time April rolled around, the kids were done learning and I was done teaching. We were left unmotivated to carry on with it.  So I decided to look at the other curriculums for this school year. Choosing a curriculum is quite the task! I finally choose My Father's World.  This year is much more relaxed and fun. Wanna know why I am loving My Father's World?

1. MFW is a scripture-centered curriculum. Children memorize God's word and develop a Biblical world view right along with learning phonics, math and science. While academics are important, raising believers in Jesus Christ and following Him is far more important to me. At the end of the day, and our lives, God isn't going to look at our academic achievements. He is looking at our hearts and whether we love Him or not. 

The children also learn character virtues with MFW. I didn't know that when I first bought it and I had bought Character Concepts for this purpose before purchasing MFW.  It's all good though because having both sets of curriculum gives me a great many ideas to cover the character virtues. They have gone together beautifully.

2. MFW applies the Charlotte Mason Method of learning. I absolutely loved the CM methods when I first ran across it a year and a half ago. I need a lesson plan that someone else made to follow. If I don't have a plan, I'm just lost and developing my own lesson plan was stressful and very overwhelming. Learning that MFW was developed around the CM method pretty much sold me. 

3. MFW takes a hands-on approach to learning. The curriculum packs are loaded with engaging manipulatives and activities for exploring all the subjects. Adelle and Jonathan both are having fun learning this way. 

Sorting and Classifying

4. MFW provides curriculum for preschool through high school. MFW begins with a learning unit for toddlers and preschoolers and advances to kindergarten through high school. Everything I will need for each grade level is provided.  One stop shopping. I like that. 

I think it's safe to say that we will probably stick with this curriculum for a long time.  

Transition Time

Lunch outside

We moved into our house about a month ago. We are lacking, lacking, lacking organization at this point. We don't even have a house phone yet let alone internet access. Therefore, I haven't been able to keep up with blog posts here. I promise that once we get settled, I will start blogging again. Until then, just know that we are moving forward with our home studies and the house is getting in order at turtle pace.  

Enjoy the pictures to highlight what we've been doing behind the scenes. 

Watching a worm in the dirt.

Handwriting, handwriting.
Jonathan actually enjoys his paper work.

Life skills.

Learning to put shirts on the hanger. 

They got to help paint their bedrooms. 

Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma

More to come soon!