#258 - Bible Studies and Devotionals

I thought for my daily post that I'd jump on board for Kelly's Korner SUYL - and share the Bible Studies/Devtionals that we do. You can click on each picture for links to Lifeway.

I started reading this one earlier in the summer and love it!

We got our new devotional after our anniversary trip to Tennessee in August. We like the format that these One Year devotionals have. I'll be honest we don't do this every night (we should:), but when we do get to have a devotional together it is always great!
This one for couples is a good one also!

Have a great Friday everyone!

Titus 2:4-5
"Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."

#142 - What Happened to Modesty?

Since our girls are growing up and getting bigger it is getting harder and harder to find clothing that is appropriate anymore. Honestly, retailers are making young girls look way too old for their ages. A friend of mine on Facebook made a comment about not being able to find a decent swimsuit for her little girl and I SO agreed with her statement. The first trip we took to Massachusetts we stayed with a precious family that had two daughters. While we were there she showed me their modest bathing suits and I was just fascinated with them! I had never seen anything like it. We don't go to public pools since we've had our pool and I haven't ordered one of these for the girls, but I would love to order one to have on hand. Anna is swimming with a swim team and while they've been practicing she has worn her bathing suit with the skirt. Soon when their swim meets begin she'll have to wear the team suit (which aren't that bad), but she would much rather wear something like this:

(Photo credit: http://www.swimmodest.com/)

I am very thankful that both of our girls take modesty very seriously and know what is decent and good! If we are to represent Christ then we need to be fully aware of not only what comes from within, but also what covers us on the outside.

1 Timothy 2:9-10

"And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do."

#116 - He Stands at the Door

Today has been another rainy day and Holly's 2nd softball game has been cancelled. I am just thinking those May flowers should be very pretty! We are blessed to not be in the flood zone and I just pray for all of those that have been so affected by all of these storms.

I wanted to share Holly's picture that she drew this weekend. It is self explanatory:

I LOVE it! It explains so much with a few simple pen marks. I also love that Jesus is front and center of her heart :) By the way, she said that the door could only be opened from the inside..............

Revelation 3:20
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."

#50 - J.O.Y.

Today has been an exhausting day and I'm just gonna re-post an older devotion that I had posted a while back. Please pray for my best friend's family - the visitation was tonight and the funeral is tomorrow. There were so many people to come through and share with the family the legacy that Donna has left. She was a precious woman loved by so many.
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The girls and I recently had a brief review of what the acronym J.O.Y. stands for:
J stands for Jesus
O for Others
Y for You.
This should be our standard on how we live.

Jesus should always come first in everything that we think about and what we do. When we put Him first everything else will always fall into place. We should always think of others before ourselves and treat them like we would want to be treated. Self should be last. When this order is reversed it puts everything backwards and our lives show it. There are many examples in God's Word that demonstrates this order. God is a God of order.

First example would be the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20:1-17.
One through four pertain to God:
1- You shall have no other gods before me.
2- You shall not make unto yourself any graven image.
3- You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4- Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Five through nine pertain to others:
5- Honor your father and your mother.
6- You shall not murder.
7- You shall not commit adultery.
8- You shall not steal.
9- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Number ten is all about yourself:
10- You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

Another example would be the Fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23:
These fruits can only truly come from the Holy Spirit living inside of you after you have been saved.

Love, Joy, Peace all three have to do with God and we can only get these three from Him.
The next three Longsuffering, Kindness, Goodness, all have to do with how we treat others.
The last three is Faithfulness, Gentleness, & Self-Control and those apply to us!

I am God's Property

There is a quote that goes along with our history lessons by Rosalie Slater and I absolutely love it!

"I am God's property created in His image for His glory and have a responsibility to steward all He has given me for my place in history."

So much truth in that one statement.

So Why Did You Start Homeschooling?

(UPDATE) I've just added this post to Kelly's Korner SUYL. So if you are visiting here from there, this is a post I wrote awhile back about our adventures in homeschooling. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I am far from being an expert, but we love homeschooling and are very passionate about teaching OUR girls!

Let me begin by saying we absolutely love homeschooling. Since we began I've had numerous people ask me questions about why, what, and how, so I finally began copying and pasting the following information about our homeschooling adventure:

Nothing really happened at our former elementary school that made us leave and homeschool. We had an American Christian Heritage seminar at our church back in May of 2008 and it was like an eye opening thing for Brian and myself. It is not about what is happening in schools right now. It is what has happened in the last 100 years and how the enemy has used government and wealthy influential people to place their agenda in society (SOCIALISM - where the government rules). When they took the role of educator away from parents and churches and gave it to the state it removed God out as the Primary Source for education. Like what Bro. Don Pinson (who held the seminar) said, "If children don't realize WHY they are learning the things they are then there is going to be no desire to learn." They should be taught to read from the Bible, because they should want to have the desire to read God's word.

It is a pure joy to know that you are sharing the education with your children that you want them to have, because it is our command from God that WE teach them (Deut. 6:4-7) from sun-up to sun-down. We first started September 2008 and I don't regret a single second of it. To be honest I wish that we would have started them earlier. The entire social aspect of it bothered me before they started homeschool, but when you think of the types of "social experiences" that they will have at school, I'd much rather our girls get that with our church family and like Christ minded people. I know many homeschooled kids that are more polite, intelligent, and can carry a conversation better than most adults I know.

Another thing that Bro. Don said was that we as parents have the authority to filter to our children what we want to be around them (even family and friends that don't have the same beliefs that we do.) Year before last we even cut our satellite off and now barely even watch t.v., except for movies occasionally. But I also share with the girls about worldly sins that are out there. Like abortion, homosexuality (they just know what it is, not what they do), and other things that are currently going on with movie stars like Hannah Montana, Lindsey Lohan, etc. I want the girls to be able to compare these things with what God's Word says about them and then decide for themselves if it is wrong or right and if it lines up with what God says. When it is time for them to step into the "real world" I want them to be rooted and grounded in what their beliefs are so that they know how to defend their faith and can share it with others. It is not really sheltering them it is giving them the roots and foundation that they need. I also want them to love all people and share the love of Christ, but loving people does not mean that they love the sin in the lives of others.

**UPDATED to add that we are now using My Father's World curriculum and Rod & Staff for Math and English.
(The curriculum we use is The Noah Plan that uses the Principle Approach. It is more of a method of teaching than an actual curriculum. It is a way to teach your children God's Principles and Biblical truths through each subject so that they can eventually be self learners. It uses what is called the 4 R's - Research, Reason, Relate, and Record. This method of teaching is how our Founding Fathers were taught and just to see some examples of their writings just made such an impression on me. These were very godly and intelligent men that learned everything they know from learning things Biblically. It is hard to explain everything in a blog post! The link to their website is http://www.principleapproach.org/)

For us to homeschool was just a conviction that we felt like God was calling us into. It has been a struggle at times and to be honest there are days that I know I fail. But I know that we are doing what God wants us to do as far as teaching them HIS truths and I feel like He blesses us for doing so.

Which Came First The Chicken or The Egg?

Remember that age old question. Let's find out the answer!

Which came first "The Chicken"? or

"The Egg"?

Let's get to the Truth!

Genesis 1:20-23 "Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” So the evening and the morning were the fifth day."

There you have your answer. The chicken was created first by our CREATOR! So the next time someone asks, you can give them the correct answer.

What is Peace?

What is peace?

Many people see or experience peace as different things.

Here are a couple of the definitions that Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary has:
Peace -
* In a general sense, a state of quiet or tranquillity; freedom from disturbance or agitation; applicable to society, to individuals, or to the temper of the mind.

* Heavenly rest; the happiness of heaven.

Then there is the actual symbols of peace. Within the last few years as our girls have gotten bigger and we have been able to shop in some "big girl" sections or even specialty stores I have noticed that the peace sign is on almost everything. I have never been a personal fan of the peace sign. Either the sign itself or holding two fingers up signifying peace. When I see either I think back on a day where it represented disrespect and immoral actions by millions of people.

A few months back I even emailed one girl's specialty store commenting on how almost every item in their catalog had a peace sign of some sort emblazzened on it. The reply I got back was this:

"The use of the peace sign is simply a trend in fashion that is happening within the retail industry. The peace signs used in our clothes and accessories are a fashion statement with no particular meaning. "The Store's" use of the peace sign does not in any way reflect the company’s political point of view." (Along with an apology to our family that they weren't meaning to be offensive.)

I wanted to reply back - if it doesn't reflect your views then why use it so much! But I accepted their apology and we will just choose to shop elsewhere.

God's Word warns us to: "Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:21-23

Not that the peace sign itself is evil. But in my opinion it has symbolized evil in the past 50 years and we personally don't want to represent something that has done that.

I believe that if something has been used as a symbol in a time era that depicted sin in the most foulest form and complete disregard to service men and women during their time of war and service to our blessed nation that it should not be glorified today. Needless to say we don't wear any peace signs at our house.

When I think of peace something completely different comes to mind. I think of calmness and assurance. No fighting. Growing up in a home where there was constant arguing going on I found that my peace could not come from my family. But I am so very thankful that I found my true peace in the Only One that can give it. From God. We will only know peace when we realize that we need that relationship with Him through His Son Jesus. Then we'll have peace because no matter what happens to us in this passing world we'll have an eternity secure in heaven with Him!

Here are some of my favorite verses regarding peace:

Psalm 119:165
"Great peace have those who love Your law,...."

Isaiah 26:12
"LORD, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our works in us."

Romans 8:6
"For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

Galatians 5:22-23
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..."

Ephesians 2:14-16
"For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity."

Philippians 4:6-8
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."


Colossians 3:15
"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful."

1 Peter 3:11
"Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it."

Resolutions ~ 2010

This week at Kelly's Korner she has asked us for our resolutions for 2010. With our homeschool we do word studies and so I looked up the word resolution in the Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary and here is the definition that fits our topic this week:

RESOLUTION, noun - Fixed purpose or determination of mind; as a resolution to reform our lives; a resolution to undertake an expedition.

Every year my resolutions are strong at the beginning, but seem to dwindle as the new days of the year turn to the same old typical days of the year.

But I resolve that this year will be different! I have gotten off to a pretty good start....so far.

When I read that definition ~ "fixed purpose or determination of mind" I realize that in order to truly change my thoughts or habits that I can't do it alone. This sinful flesh will NOT allow me to do it by myself. I must submit and release these selfish desires and habits to the One I lean upon daily for strength. Without God's strength in helping us to persevere it is just not gonna happen.

Okay now on to my resolutions:
#1
Be a more organized person.
Here is a pic of our homeschool classroom after Christmas and it can get very cluttered.
I resolve to keep it organized better so that we can learn in a clean and tidy environment!
Not just the classroom, my house in general too!

#2
Be a better homeschooling mother.
We began homeschooling our daughters Sept. 2008 and I have a tendancy to lack in certain areas in our school. I resolve to once again get my focus on what it should be.

#3
Eat healthier and exercise more! (typical I know)

I must stop eating things like this sopapilla cheesecake and the 1 minute brownie!

We became members at our local college's gymnasium center this week and so far I have been twice and walked 3 miles each time at their indoor track! They also have a cardio and weight room, an indoor pool, and raquetball courts. This is a great thing for our family and we can count it as P.E. class for school!

#4 and Most Important!
Read and study my Bible more!
I have gotten out of the habit of personal daily reading time and I resolve to make it the first thing I do in the morning.

I resolve to "reform my life" in the obedience of Christ!

"I am God’s property created in
His image for His glory and
have a responsibility to steward
all He has given me for my place in history."
Rosalie Slater

J.O.Y.

The girls and I recently had a brief review of what the acronym J.O.Y. stands for:
J stands for Jesus
O for Others
Y for You.
This should be our standard on how we live.

Jesus should always come first in everything that we think about and what we do. When we put Him first everything else will always fall into place. We should always think of others before ourselves and treat them like we would want to be treated. Self should be last. When this order is reversed it puts everything backwards and our lives show it. There are many examples in God's Word that demonstrates this order. God is a God of order.

First example would be the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20:1-17.
One through four pertain to God:
1- You shall have no other gods before me.
2- You shall not make unto yourself any graven image.
3- You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4- Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Five through nine pertain to others:
5- Honor your father and your mother.
6- You shall not murder.
7- You shall not commit adultery.
8- You shall not steal.
9- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Number ten is all about yourself:
10- You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

Another example would be the Fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23:
These fruits can only truly come from the Holy Spirit living inside of you after you have been saved.

Love, Joy, Peace all three have to do with God and we can only get these three from Him.
The next three Longsuffering, Kindness, Goodness, all have to do with how we treat others.
The last three is Faithfulness, Gentleness, & Self-Control and those apply to us!