Back to School

I won't chat long because we're wrapping up day 3 of this year's school season. 

It's went really well and I'm praying that it's a precurser for what lies ahead this year. 

Not as much resistance from my son as in years past. 

I keep telling myself that there will still be tough days,
but overall I can see the fruit of perseverance and persistence paying off as the kids get older. 

There is absolutely no other schooling option that I would choose for my family. 

But over the years, I have been in those moments where I felt why some parents would throw in the towel. 

It's a full time job on top of all the other responsibilities of being a mother, wife, taking care of the house and animals, plus for some an added part time job to top it off. Yet, with all the things pulling at me, 

I would never ever in a million years or for a million dollars give up this time teaching and training my kids. 

It's a blessing beyond words!

Here's something that I ran across and thought was a good reminder that all of our kids learn differently and it's our responsibility to teach them accordingly.

Bookworms - right at home in a bookish environment.

Treeclimbers - can't sit still at a desk.

Daydreamers - can't complete a workbook in the given amount of time. 

Cuddlers - don't care what you know till they know how much you care. 

If you take it out, put it back!

"The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are more important to the soul than their simplicity might suggest." Thomas Moore

My soul truly does feel much more at peace when I have my house in order. The past several years have been the most awaking in this area. Prior to 4ish years ago, I tended to clean for "others". However, I have found the joy and peace it bring to me when I do "if only for me". So although no where near perfect or as consistent as I'd like to be, I have learned and continue to do so in this area. 

The Shakers believed that their daily work, including housekeeping,

 was a personal expression of worship. 

"Prayer and housekeeping - they go together. They have always gone together. We simply know that our daily round is how we live. When we clean and order our homes, we are somehow also cleaning and ordering ourselves." Gunilla Norris

How we care for our home is a subtle but significant expression of self-esteem. 

"If home doesn't make sense, nothing does." Henrietta Ripperger

Getting our houses in order and endowing our children with a respect for, and appreciation of, order is one of the most precious gifts we can give them and ourselves. I appreciate that my mom always kept a tidy and clean home and instilled that value in her children. Although she never made us do dishes and now none of us girls enjoy that chore! :-) Her favorite thing to do is the "anywhere you go game" which just means if you see something that needs put away, then put it away as you go. 

Sanity is preserved with planning!

Have you ever seen one of those plaques that says?

1) If you take it out, put it back. 

2) If you open it, close it. 

3) If you throw it down, pick it up. 

4) If you take it off, hang it up.

"Drudgery can be transformed, through a willing and open heart, into labors of love"....said someone, somewhere, at some time. 

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him....cease from anger and forsake wrath." Psalm 37:7-8

There's no reason to get angry and upset if you aren't where you'd like to be as far as home organization and cleanliness. I'm not there either. But often, not having a plan and daily working at organizing and cleaning various things DOES lead to anger and frustration at yourself and others. 

God worked and then rested....just a thought. :-)

What are some of your favorite tips for keeping up on housework?

Different-Just like me

I used to be under the illusion and/or impression that I was more fit to work with those that had grown up with similar experiences as myself.

A loving family.

A strong church in which I grew up learning and growing about God, salvation through Jesus, and all the other things that go along with that.

A Christian education.

A husband and the opportunity to mother two beautiful children.

However, time and experience. God's Word. The Holy Spirit's guidance. A little maturity. A lot of mishaps along the way is bringing me to a new revelation.

I'm as different as the rest of society.

It's not about being able to minister to those who are similar to us. It's about being able to share Jesus with those who are open and ready to be "different" than they are at the current moment.

That takes on many forms and riddles and conditions and actions.

For some that's turning from a lifestyle of drugs and alcohol. Others it means turning their back on depression that has haunted them for days, years, months. Some it means letting go of the fake
Christian facade and humbling asking Jesus to tear down their walls of pride. Still others are
desperately in need to simply FEEL again. Feel anything.
Love. Hope. Joy. Even sadness if properly placed.

Jesus came to "heal the sick".



The Pharisees felt they didn't need Him. In fact they KNEW they didn't need Him and went so far as to kill Him in order to shut Him up. He was messing with their way of life. Interfering with their religious business. They had walked with and served God their entire lives. Shouldn't they have the right to question this "crazy" man? He was going against everything that they had held to since the exodus of the Israelites. Before that even.

Yes, they did have the right to question Him! They did have the right to make sure that His life and words where lining up with Scripture. However, they couldn't see the forest for the trees. We see the
end. We know the Pharisees were wrong. They turned what once was a name associated with the holiest of people into a dirty word. "I could never have been a Pharisee! Why couldn't they see that He was the Son of God-God Himself in human form?"

Well, why can't we see that by placating those "certain" people, that often, we place ourselves in the same "set apart" group as they once did. Or worse yet, I believe we all have a little Pharisee blood pumping through our veins. Passed down from years of church attendance or self-righteous living.

Please don't get me wrong....

I in NO way mean to shed a negative light on holiness and Godly living. No way. In no means. Absolutely not. But I do want to consider my own heart attachment to the things that Jesus Himself
denounced so fervently.



"Do not look down on those around you."
"Love your neighbor as yourself."
We are to be "salt and light" not backbiting and bitter.
It was His last earthly breath that charged us to "go out into all the world" and "preach the Good News!"

The Homeless Church

Living in COLOR

"You have to count on living every single day in a way you believe will make you feel good about your life so that if it were tomorrow, you'd be content."

 Jane Seymour

I am well aware that I don't live life in  COLOR every day. A lot of days are acted out in black and white. "It would cost too much" I often think when talking of a random drive to Seattle or cup of Starbucks.

What about taking a walk to the park on a beautiful sunny day? That often gets put off as well. Some days I do it. But it's not a lifestyle. It's the exception, not the rule!

Structure & schedule & frugality are great qualities, but I am also aware that my family will look back and remember the  COLOR  moments much more then the black and white ones.

Colorful - 
1) abounding in color
2) richly eventful or picturesque
3) presenting or suggesting vivid or striking scenes


Yes! That is what I desire!!!

Lord help me to live colorfully while remaining grounded in You!

Petitioning God in Prayer

According to a 1997 Newsweek Poll:

• 82% say they ask for health or success for a child or family member

when they pray.

• 75% ask for strength to overcome personal weakness.

• 87% say that God answers prayers.

• 51% think God doesn

ʼt answer prayers to win sporting events.

• 36% never pray for financial or career success.

• 29% say they pray to God more than once a day.

• 25% pray only once a day.

• 82% say they believe that God does not play favorites in answering

prayers.

• 79% say God answers prayers for healing someone with an incurable

disease.

• 73% think prayers for help in finding a job are answered.

• 54% say that when God doesn

ʼt answer their prayers, it means it

wasn

ʼt Godʼs will.

• 82% don

ʼt turn away from God when prayers go unanswered.

 

Matthew 7:7-11

“

7 Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be

opened to you.

8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him

who knocks it shall be opened.

9 Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask

him for a loaf, will give him a stone?

10 Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a

snake, will he?

11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,

how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask

Him!”

I'd do it all again

"I'd do it all again, Mom."

Those where the words that's spilled out from my stubborn, fiery, precious, eyes watering 10 year old boy.

It'd been a great day. One with nothing out of the ordinary. Normal. Safe. Good. Productive.

Even dinner went well. Which involved a piece of beef and for the afore mentioned child that is not a pleasant meal. He'd rather have one filled with his precious carbs and carbs alone. He never minds some veggies thrown in the mix either. Yet, we made it through without food drama. Then the question was asked if he could spend time with daddy. Of course.....

But remember those pages of Science and English that lie untouched. Put off. Undone.

"Really Mom? Do I have to do that?" came spilling out without a thought.

So, here it was - the moment. The môment that I had to chose. Let it go. No.
Responsibility is a lesson far greater than what lay ahead in the 2 subjects staring back at him.

But here was the question.....why didn't I see that I was ready to be done with school for the day?!
That we all were ready to be done with school for the day.

After this many years I should have seen the signs and let him go peacefully and joyfully with his dad and sister.  But I didn't. Why? Because then he'd think that he didn't have to do it tomorrow or the day after that.

Is that true....

No. It was about me controlling the situation. It needed to get done so, by golly, he was gonna do it.
Oh Mandy.....(yes, this could lead right into a song)

So we sat. He figitted. I stewed.  No one won.  He got it done. It wasn't a big deal. He really didn't even complain much about it. However, we both had an edge to us as we sat there. He said he'd never get it done.  I said that was silliness. He was getting it done. And then he said the thing that took my mommy heart and torn it right up.

"Well, at least you won't have to deal with me tomorrow."

There my heart lay.  Smashed wide open.  Beating yet bleeding out on the floor right in front of us.

Tears stung my eyes as I realized that I'd made him feel this way. Like my day would be better off without him.  How could I have been so careless?  We sat in silence for a few moments. He was hurting and knew he'd hurt me which made him hurt more.

(Flashback to the day after his surgery. Yet the written words could be used for a variety of life's events.)

I said that this silly ol' schoolwork doesn't matter at all to me! It wasn't about the schoolwork. It was about obeying with a good attitude even if you don't want to.  He nodded that he'd understood. Then I said that I knew getting back into the groove after having two weeks off for his tonsilectomy was a challenge.  In trying to show him my love, I said that I had absolutely adored and cherished the time that we'd spent laying in bed together....just being with each other.  To that he said with wet eyes,

"I'd do the surgery again to just have that time with you."

There his heart lay. Raw and open for me, his mama, to see. He loved that time together as much as I did. Saying it healed both of our hearts a bit...well, a lot I believe. We both share some of the same stubbornness. The tendency to fight for what we believe in (or simply what we want at the moment). I know that. He knows that.

Does he remember how much pain he was in? The 11 pounds weight lose because nothing sounded good and every bite hurt? The 8 day fever that just wouldn't go away? Here he was saying he'd go through it all again to spend quality time with me, his mama. Now that's the way to bring it all back into perspective. It's about relationships!

That made me think of Jesus and the sacrifice that He made for me. For you. As painful as the crucifixion was, He would do it all over! Why?! Just to be with me. Just to be with you. Why?! Because He wants a relationship with each of us....and to do that He had to endure the pain and sins of the entire world.

And He'd do it all again.....

Genuine Interest

Genuine Interest

When we are genuinely interested in others,

a graciousness comes over us that is compelling. (Sarah Breathnach)

Marita Bonner wrote in 1926, “We should not talk to people as if they were strange hard shells that we have to crack open to get inside.

We should talk as if we were already in the shell. In their very shell.”

Most of us have harried moments in our day, but by taking the time to step outside our own sphere to embrace others we open ourselves up to the power of the Holy Spirit who can then work in and through us. (S.B.)

Do I?

Greet everyone with a warm smile? ____________________________________________________________________________

Do I rush my encounters with people? ____________________________________________________________________________

Do I really take time to pray for others? ____________________________________________________________________________

Do I take time to pray WITH others? ____________________________________________________________________________

Do I listen attentively to them? ____________________________________________________________________________

Does everyone I speak to believe that I care for them? ____________________________________________________________________________

Do I lavish Jesus’ love on others? ____________________________________________________________________________

List someone that this is difficult to do with:

____________________________________________

I Corinthians 13

                                                    Ephesians 4:2-3