This last week has been a hard week! You know one of those times when every single day
seems to be harder then the previous. I am sure there are others out there who have their times of struggles. How is it that it seems as if we are the only ones? So here is a short list of my week. I took my mom to the ER for chest pains. I had been trying to get her to go for days, this was just the climax her blood pressure was 232/98. Once they got that under control she was fine. My sister went to the hospital and was transferred by ambulance to OU medical. So at 4 am I drove my mom to the hospital in the city. No wonder my moms blood pressure was so high! My soon to be adopted 15 year old decided he didn't want to obey and gave me an ultimatum to give him his way or he would go back to the shelter. I don't think he realized I have raised a few teenagers :) So, I helped him pack his bags, to which, he quickly unpacked! With six children in the process of being healed from abuse and neglect it is often a lot of stress and drama, to say the least!
So, in the midst of all this and more. God has been dealing with me about casting ALL of my cares on HIM! What is it about us women that we think we can handle this life anyway? I know for me except for the Grace of God I couldn't make one single day. I am learning to exchange my weakness for HIS strength. Today while I was reading my Bible a verse stood out to me:
Proverbs 3:7,8 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow for thy bones.
Wow, sometimes I think I have it all figured out. I am wise in my own eyes. I know today that it is only as I fear the Lord, that I have the life that I need.
In my weakness He is made strong!
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
All I once held dear built my life upon
All this world reveres, and wars to own
All I once thought gain I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now compared to this
Knowing you Jesus, knowing you
There is no greater thing
You're my all you're the best
You're my joy, my righteousness
And I love you, Lord
Now my hearts desire is to know you more
To be found in you, and known as yours
To possess by faith what I could not earn
All surpassing gift of righteousness
Oh to know the power of your risen life
And to know You in Your suffering
To become like You in Your death my Lord
So with You to live and never die
All this world reveres, and wars to own
All I once thought gain I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now compared to this
Knowing you Jesus, knowing you
There is no greater thing
You're my all you're the best
You're my joy, my righteousness
And I love you, Lord
Now my hearts desire is to know you more
To be found in you, and known as yours
To possess by faith what I could not earn
All surpassing gift of righteousness
Oh to know the power of your risen life
And to know You in Your suffering
To become like You in Your death my Lord
So with You to live and never die
Friday, January 13, 2012
Humility
"It is only when we, like the Son, truly know and show that we can do nothing of ourselves that God will do everything!"
This quote is from a book by Andrew Murray intitled, "humility." All I can say is wow! This is a must read book.
Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. Matthew 11:29
This quote is from a book by Andrew Murray intitled, "humility." All I can say is wow! This is a must read book.
Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. Matthew 11:29
Monday, May 24, 2010
Train them up!
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
If you study the word TRAIN in Websters 1828 dictionary it has to do with bringing along side. It also has to do with discipline by narrowing. It mentions training as in military. If you liken your child training to military training you can see a narrowing approach. Example: A season of intense training in obedience, trust, skills, ect... The world teaches that we need to give our children a broad range of experiences so they can be well rounded individuals. The scripture says, "broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:" If we approach our child training with a narrowing mindset we will begin to view things differently.
By allowing your child to narrow his education he will be able to become very accomplished in the area he has chosen. This will cause him to have confidence and be able to embrace areas that are more difficult for him.
Here is an example from one of our home school experiences:
When my son was around 4 or 5 he became interested in leather working. We encouraged his desire by giving him time needed to work. We gave him tools and materials to work with. We also took him to places where he could see others working. We subscribed to leather working magazines. We were able to incorporate his writing by having him copy (he was only 4 or 5) a description of his work. He was also at the time learning to read. As his skill increased so did his reading, writing. Now at the age of 15 he has a marketable trade. He is a skilled leather worker and is sought after to build knife sheaves, leather cell phone holders, chaps, custom gun holsters. He recently sold a gun holster for $175. He is only 15!
When he showed an interest in other areas we came alongside with resources and support. He is proficient at piano playing, and recently was hired to brake a horse. He just came back from a short school on setting up archery bows. He attended the training with his father. No one could believe how young he was, but also how mature.
I say all this not to brag but to give you a vision that your child is a individual with individual gifting and talents. When we read the verse in Proverbs it says to train our child in the way HE SHOULD GO. Our children are unique and precious. Each having a unique calling and gifting. It is up to us as parents to seek God on how to encourage our children in the calling He has for them.
If you study the word TRAIN in Websters 1828 dictionary it has to do with bringing along side. It also has to do with discipline by narrowing. It mentions training as in military. If you liken your child training to military training you can see a narrowing approach. Example: A season of intense training in obedience, trust, skills, ect... The world teaches that we need to give our children a broad range of experiences so they can be well rounded individuals. The scripture says, "broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:" If we approach our child training with a narrowing mindset we will begin to view things differently.
By allowing your child to narrow his education he will be able to become very accomplished in the area he has chosen. This will cause him to have confidence and be able to embrace areas that are more difficult for him.
Here is an example from one of our home school experiences:
When my son was around 4 or 5 he became interested in leather working. We encouraged his desire by giving him time needed to work. We gave him tools and materials to work with. We also took him to places where he could see others working. We subscribed to leather working magazines. We were able to incorporate his writing by having him copy (he was only 4 or 5) a description of his work. He was also at the time learning to read. As his skill increased so did his reading, writing. Now at the age of 15 he has a marketable trade. He is a skilled leather worker and is sought after to build knife sheaves, leather cell phone holders, chaps, custom gun holsters. He recently sold a gun holster for $175. He is only 15!
When he showed an interest in other areas we came alongside with resources and support. He is proficient at piano playing, and recently was hired to brake a horse. He just came back from a short school on setting up archery bows. He attended the training with his father. No one could believe how young he was, but also how mature.
I say all this not to brag but to give you a vision that your child is a individual with individual gifting and talents. When we read the verse in Proverbs it says to train our child in the way HE SHOULD GO. Our children are unique and precious. Each having a unique calling and gifting. It is up to us as parents to seek God on how to encourage our children in the calling He has for them.
Friday, May 21, 2010
How to Create a Vision for Your Family
We are often asked? How do we develop a vision for our family? As believers we are not left to wander without direction. God’s word is very clear on the subject. In Mathew 6:33 the scripture reads; But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you. In James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
The first step in developing a family vision is to seek the Lord with all your heart. We then know that he will give us the needed wisdom to proceed in His path. Often times it becomes necessary to have our minds renewed before we are able to receive what God would have for us. It is much like the parable of the new wine that is being placed in an old wineskin. We need to have our minds renewed to receive the new word God is speaking to us.
When we began our journey of faith in the area of homeschooling our children, it became very evident that we had a very worldly mindset of education. It was through much prayer and soul searching that God brought us out on the other end. Here is a little testimony of our path to a lifestyle of learning.
Mike and I were married in 1988. At the time of our marriage I had an older son who was 6. He was in kindergarten. He would spend every weekend at his fathers. His father was not a believer and between his weekends away and weekday s at school we began to see we had very little influence over his life. We were seeking the Lord with our whole heart and felt the Lord speak to us to home school him. I began the process of homeschooling him for several years. I basically modeled his education after the school system and taught Bible and character building. After several years I was becoming burnt out. I had 3 babies and a teen at home. The Lord was speaking to me regarding my methods of education. I read the scripture that said ,“my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” There was nothing easy about what I was doing. Not only that, I began to see rebellion in my sons heart. I came to the place where I thought, “why am I knocking myself out to get the same results as everyone else?” It was at that point I surrendered my understanding for Gods. I simply told God, “unless you show me what to do, I am not doing anything.” That was the day I traded my old wineskin for new.
The Lord began to reveal to me my motives for homeschooling the way I was.
Motive #1 Fear of man, the Lord revealed to me that I had a fear of man. That I feared what man would do to me more than I feared God.
Motive#2 Pride, I wanted everyone to look at me and see that I did a good job. I wanted others to see how well behaved and schooled my children were.
I was totally broken because I realized my motives were not based on God and the end results were showing up in rebellion against me. Ephesians 6:4 and, ye fathers , provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
I immediately went to my son and repented. We wept and sought forgiveness together. We then began to pray about what God would have him to be learning during this season of his life. He became so excited.
The subject he wanted to learn about was Taxidermy. We went to the library and checked out some books and began to read and study the information. He was so excited. He was reading books far higher in grade level. His reading improved and so did his cooperation with his education. For the first time in years he was excited about learning. We set apart a small amount of time to do his, “table time” as we called it. This basically was his math. His writing and reading were done studying bird books and making journals about different bird species. During this time his reading increased by 3 grade levels. It had become evident that Gods ways are not mans, and from first hand experience I can tell you his ways are way more efficient.
I remember on one occasion my son decided to taxidermy a blue bird. With book in hand we set out to stuff a bird on the kitchen table. Before we began we prayed together that God would give us wisdom and diligence, which were two characteristics we did not posses very much of at the time. About halfway through the project we hit a snag as he was trying to pull the head of the bird over the skull. The skin had shrunk and we didn’t know what to do. My son became very upset and began to give up. He said this was a waste of two hours. I told him that we were going to pray and ask again for wisdom and that we were going to see what God showed us. So we prayed and then he said, “well I think I can cut it under the neck and sow it up underneath.” I said OK lets try that, we did this and it worked. We turned the next page and it read,” If the skin shrinks cut underneath and sow from the inside.” Wow, we got it straight from the wiseth of the wise. This memory of God becoming uniquely involved in my sons education will forever remain a part of his life.
For us, an individual education, that was God designed became a big part of our family vision.
I suggest as you seek the Lord that you began a journal and write down that things the Lord speaks to your heart in regards to your own family.
Another area that God impressed upon us was to create family unity. We began to evaluate every area in our lives to see if our activities were bringing us closer as a family or farther apart. This is an area many people are unwilling to sacrifice for. For us God spoke specifically that HE would bring us family friends. What that meant to us was that we didn’t each have our own individual friends but that God brought families to us that were like minded. This kept our family intact and also became a great source of joy as God united our hearts with His people of differing ages. To this day these relationships are our most valued and we consider them to be our family. It is amazing what happens when you allow God to control every area of your life. My children have friends that are ten years older, the same age, and ten years younger. They are not limited to friendships based on their own age.
Whatever God shows you to be a vision for your family, it is wise to shine the light of the Holy Spirit over every activity to see if your activities line up with your vision. I like to picture a light shining over what I am involved in to see if it is bringing about the desired fruit in my life and my children.
The first step in developing a family vision is to seek the Lord with all your heart. We then know that he will give us the needed wisdom to proceed in His path. Often times it becomes necessary to have our minds renewed before we are able to receive what God would have for us. It is much like the parable of the new wine that is being placed in an old wineskin. We need to have our minds renewed to receive the new word God is speaking to us.
When we began our journey of faith in the area of homeschooling our children, it became very evident that we had a very worldly mindset of education. It was through much prayer and soul searching that God brought us out on the other end. Here is a little testimony of our path to a lifestyle of learning.
Mike and I were married in 1988. At the time of our marriage I had an older son who was 6. He was in kindergarten. He would spend every weekend at his fathers. His father was not a believer and between his weekends away and weekday s at school we began to see we had very little influence over his life. We were seeking the Lord with our whole heart and felt the Lord speak to us to home school him. I began the process of homeschooling him for several years. I basically modeled his education after the school system and taught Bible and character building. After several years I was becoming burnt out. I had 3 babies and a teen at home. The Lord was speaking to me regarding my methods of education. I read the scripture that said ,“my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” There was nothing easy about what I was doing. Not only that, I began to see rebellion in my sons heart. I came to the place where I thought, “why am I knocking myself out to get the same results as everyone else?” It was at that point I surrendered my understanding for Gods. I simply told God, “unless you show me what to do, I am not doing anything.” That was the day I traded my old wineskin for new.
The Lord began to reveal to me my motives for homeschooling the way I was.
Motive #1 Fear of man, the Lord revealed to me that I had a fear of man. That I feared what man would do to me more than I feared God.
Motive#2 Pride, I wanted everyone to look at me and see that I did a good job. I wanted others to see how well behaved and schooled my children were.
I was totally broken because I realized my motives were not based on God and the end results were showing up in rebellion against me. Ephesians 6:4 and, ye fathers , provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
I immediately went to my son and repented. We wept and sought forgiveness together. We then began to pray about what God would have him to be learning during this season of his life. He became so excited.
The subject he wanted to learn about was Taxidermy. We went to the library and checked out some books and began to read and study the information. He was so excited. He was reading books far higher in grade level. His reading improved and so did his cooperation with his education. For the first time in years he was excited about learning. We set apart a small amount of time to do his, “table time” as we called it. This basically was his math. His writing and reading were done studying bird books and making journals about different bird species. During this time his reading increased by 3 grade levels. It had become evident that Gods ways are not mans, and from first hand experience I can tell you his ways are way more efficient.
I remember on one occasion my son decided to taxidermy a blue bird. With book in hand we set out to stuff a bird on the kitchen table. Before we began we prayed together that God would give us wisdom and diligence, which were two characteristics we did not posses very much of at the time. About halfway through the project we hit a snag as he was trying to pull the head of the bird over the skull. The skin had shrunk and we didn’t know what to do. My son became very upset and began to give up. He said this was a waste of two hours. I told him that we were going to pray and ask again for wisdom and that we were going to see what God showed us. So we prayed and then he said, “well I think I can cut it under the neck and sow it up underneath.” I said OK lets try that, we did this and it worked. We turned the next page and it read,” If the skin shrinks cut underneath and sow from the inside.” Wow, we got it straight from the wiseth of the wise. This memory of God becoming uniquely involved in my sons education will forever remain a part of his life.
For us, an individual education, that was God designed became a big part of our family vision.
I suggest as you seek the Lord that you began a journal and write down that things the Lord speaks to your heart in regards to your own family.
Another area that God impressed upon us was to create family unity. We began to evaluate every area in our lives to see if our activities were bringing us closer as a family or farther apart. This is an area many people are unwilling to sacrifice for. For us God spoke specifically that HE would bring us family friends. What that meant to us was that we didn’t each have our own individual friends but that God brought families to us that were like minded. This kept our family intact and also became a great source of joy as God united our hearts with His people of differing ages. To this day these relationships are our most valued and we consider them to be our family. It is amazing what happens when you allow God to control every area of your life. My children have friends that are ten years older, the same age, and ten years younger. They are not limited to friendships based on their own age.
Whatever God shows you to be a vision for your family, it is wise to shine the light of the Holy Spirit over every activity to see if your activities line up with your vision. I like to picture a light shining over what I am involved in to see if it is bringing about the desired fruit in my life and my children.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Creating Your Family Vision
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
The definition for the word perish in the Websters 1828 dictionary is from per and eo, to go; literally, to depart, to die.
If you study this it has to do with going about unrestrained. Without a vision we go about unrestrained and the end result is death. You can apply this to every area of life. What is your vision and are your activities lining up to your vision?
Here is an example. We have a vision of creating a beautiful garden. Before we plant the seeds we must first locate the best ground. We then cultivate the ground and add in needed nutrients to the soil. Next we will decide what we want to grow. We will water, weed, and harvest the fruits of our labor.
Raising our children is much the same way. We must develop a vision for our family. For without it our parenting will be haphazard, leading us in many different directions not getting the results our heart longs for.
Galations 6:7 Be not deceived: God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
When we sow our garden we KNOW what we are planting and therefore we Get what we planted. If we plant corn we will reap corn. Ect. Many parents never even consider what is being planted in the hearts and minds of their children. This reminds me of a time when I desired to plant some flowers alongside of my vegetables. I looked at the pictures of the flowers on the package and picked some I thought would look pretty. I choose morning glories. I was unaware of the characteristics that morning glories had. They are vining plants that multiply rapidly and are impossible to get rid of. One morning I went out to my garden and the whole garden was covered in beautiful flowers. It was breathtaking. But, upon closer inspection I found the flowers were entangled around my tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and were chocking the very life out of the other seeds I had lovingly planted. The Lord spoke clearly to me that I needed to KNOW what I was planting. Many things we allow or even purposely plant in our children lives can and often do choke out the good fruit we have planted. We must know the end results because as Galations 6:7 states, “whatever a man sows that will he reap.” This is Gods promise to us. We sow life, we reap life. We sow peace, we reap peace. Raising children in God is not something done by chance. Gods word says in Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it. We can take God at His word.
Even years later I still have to pull out morning glory plants. How much easier it would be to have never planted them in the first place.
The definition for the word perish in the Websters 1828 dictionary is from per and eo, to go; literally, to depart, to die.
If you study this it has to do with going about unrestrained. Without a vision we go about unrestrained and the end result is death. You can apply this to every area of life. What is your vision and are your activities lining up to your vision?
Here is an example. We have a vision of creating a beautiful garden. Before we plant the seeds we must first locate the best ground. We then cultivate the ground and add in needed nutrients to the soil. Next we will decide what we want to grow. We will water, weed, and harvest the fruits of our labor.
Raising our children is much the same way. We must develop a vision for our family. For without it our parenting will be haphazard, leading us in many different directions not getting the results our heart longs for.
Galations 6:7 Be not deceived: God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
When we sow our garden we KNOW what we are planting and therefore we Get what we planted. If we plant corn we will reap corn. Ect. Many parents never even consider what is being planted in the hearts and minds of their children. This reminds me of a time when I desired to plant some flowers alongside of my vegetables. I looked at the pictures of the flowers on the package and picked some I thought would look pretty. I choose morning glories. I was unaware of the characteristics that morning glories had. They are vining plants that multiply rapidly and are impossible to get rid of. One morning I went out to my garden and the whole garden was covered in beautiful flowers. It was breathtaking. But, upon closer inspection I found the flowers were entangled around my tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and were chocking the very life out of the other seeds I had lovingly planted. The Lord spoke clearly to me that I needed to KNOW what I was planting. Many things we allow or even purposely plant in our children lives can and often do choke out the good fruit we have planted. We must know the end results because as Galations 6:7 states, “whatever a man sows that will he reap.” This is Gods promise to us. We sow life, we reap life. We sow peace, we reap peace. Raising children in God is not something done by chance. Gods word says in Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it. We can take God at His word.
Even years later I still have to pull out morning glory plants. How much easier it would be to have never planted them in the first place.
Hi Readers,
This is my first time posting on a blog! Yea, I finally have made the 21st century. I am writing this blog because I have been asked by several people to share with them child training tips and educational experiences we have had while raising our children. It is my prayer that you will be blessed and encouraged to seek the Lord in every area of your life. Please feel free to share with others and leave me a comment. If you have areas you would like me to write please don't hesitate to ask. I am seeking the Lord for what He would have me share and desire to share ALL He has given. The scripture says, "freely you have received, freely give." That is the purpose of this blog.
Blessings,
Mike and Gail
This is my first time posting on a blog! Yea, I finally have made the 21st century. I am writing this blog because I have been asked by several people to share with them child training tips and educational experiences we have had while raising our children. It is my prayer that you will be blessed and encouraged to seek the Lord in every area of your life. Please feel free to share with others and leave me a comment. If you have areas you would like me to write please don't hesitate to ask. I am seeking the Lord for what He would have me share and desire to share ALL He has given. The scripture says, "freely you have received, freely give." That is the purpose of this blog.
Blessings,
Mike and Gail
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
