2007 New Years Resolution

For the last week I have had a rather extensive list made out in my head as to what I was determined to change in the next year or do better but this morning during worship it was summed up in two simple but complex words: to die.

In the year of 2007 my deepest desire that will shape all areas of my life is to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (1 Cor. 2:2) I realized this morning that I am to much alive. In this new year I am going to die every day and view each day through the lens of the cross. I am going to take up my cross everyday and live life zealfully for His glory.


But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Phillipians 3:7-11

JOYfully in Him,
Kelli

New Year

....I launch my bark on the unkown waters of this year,
with thee, O Father, as my harbour,
thee, O Son, at my helm,
thee, O Holy Spirit, filling my sails.
Guide me to heaven with my loins girt,
my lamp burning,
my ear open to thy calls,
my heart full of love,
my soul free.
Give me thy grace to sanctify me,
thy comforts to cheer,
thy wisdom to teach,
thy right hand to guide,
thy counsel to instruct,
thy law to judge,
thy presence to stabalize.
May thy fear be my awe,
thy triumphs my joy.

Week 1 ~ Knowing God

Here are my plans for this coming week begining on Sunday and going through Saturday.

Morning (daily):

• Personal Prayer
• Bible Reading
• Valley of Vision Prayer

Afternoons:

• Praying God's Will for Your Life (M,W,F)
• Screwtape Letters (T,Th)

Evenings (daily):

• Sacred Parenting
• Psalm 1 memorization
• Prayer: for lost and suffering

At some time during Mondays and Friday probably during dinner preperation I will listen to a sermon. I am going to rely on God to lead me in deciding which ones to listen to and by whom but will post them at that time.

I am also contemplating on reading on the side maybe a weekend reader Storie Omartian's other book The Power of a Praying Wife but will probably just wait until I finish Praying God's Will for Your Life.

JOYfully in Him,
Kelli

It is coming

The new year that is fastly approaching and for me it is an opportunity to have a new begining. It feels as though I can start with a clean slate for the coming year of 2007, a new year with my boys, a new year with my husband and a new year with the Lord. Tomorrow is New Years Eve in which a day where I will leave all of my past failures behind giving them all completely to Him and will make my first "new years resolution" to do this often not holding on to them and allowing them to bog me down hindering my walk. Life is such a blessing and as it has been pointed out to me very often lately I need to learn to enjoy it more and my family and my heart desires to enjoy my Creator more as well. We are given one chance here on this earth as sojourners to not only live and enjoy this life but in it to praise Him. We will not get another chance to worship Him in the world where we are called to be His lights, to show all those around us who do not believe and are lost in the darkness the true light by how we praise and worship Him in our daily lives. Our hearts and minds need to be constantly reminded of how we once were lost and how we were found, that while we were still sinners Christ died for us, that we like Paul are wretched and undeserving but by His love have been lavished in His grace.

I am excited about this new start. All of my reading will begin tomorrow but my heart has already begun. If anyone would like to join me in my bible reading plan, book readings or memorization I would be delighted. Just let me know and we will set up a plan together!! I encourage you to embark on a journey this new year of getting to know Him better through reading His word, prayers, memorization and encouragement.

JOYfully in Him,
Kelli

Knowing God

When someone acts weak, negligent, or casual in a duty - performing it carelessly or lifelessly, without any genuine satisfaction, joy, or interest - he has already entered into the spirit that will lead him into trouble. How many we see today who have departed from warmhearted service and have become negligent, careless, and indifferent in their prayer life or in the reading of the Scriptures. For each one who escapes this peril, a hundred others will be ensnared. Then it may be too late to acknowledge, "I neglected private prayer," or "I did not meditate on God's Word," or "I did not hear what I should have listened to." John Owen

(click on the quote to go to some more thoughts on Knowing God)

Reading His Word

With much thought about how I have been neglecting my meditation on the word of God I have devised a plan to get into it more consistently. I found what I think will be the best reading plan for myself and plan on begining on January first. I have also planned out some prayer books to read to help move me along in that area as well. Here is the bible reading plan that I have chosen:

52 Week Bible Reading Plan : There is a reading each week that is centered on Epistles, Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy and the Gospels. This plan intrigued me.

I have tried other plans and I always fail to follow through. I pray that I will persevere in my attempts to get in His word on a daily basis and that God will reveal more of himself to me through my study.

For my prayer studies I am reading Praying God's Will for Your Life by Stormie Omartian (the workbook) and am planning on listening to a Puritan Prayer from Valley of Vision daily. I also would like to memorize some of the prayers that are in the bible as well.

JOYfully in Him,
Kelli

What is the point?

Lately when I have gone or even thought about reading the word this question has plagued my mind and heart. I am saddened to admit that this is where I am at right now in my relationsip with the Lord. I am in a desert wandering blindly and only on feeling. It has been difficult trying to do everything alone. I have no excuse for my lack of faithfulness to the Lord. My life on the outside is not much different from anyone's perspective.

Things need to change..............

I am on a journey to know the Lord more intimately than ever before. Today was a day full of trials of various kinds that had me in many places of darkness. It is amazing though how the Lord will speak to you...tonight at I sought out something to study from His word I remembered that tonight was Coffee house at church, which I didn't go to Expresso is in class and I just needed to be alone with God tonight. I went to Renovatio Mundi (my local preachers blog) and read what the disccussion was going to be about. It just so happens to be about Job, trials, perseverence, and the work of God. It was a major reflection for me on my day and on how I handled my own personal testing from God and attacks from satan. I was dissapointed in myself and in my lack of faith. I realized today that unlike Job who humbled himself and worshiped the Lord when his life was turned upside down, he recognized the Lords soveriegnty and embraced it, I did the opposite. I struggled a lot with these truths but ultimately turned away from God than to Him.

Job 1:6-22
Satan Allowed to Test Job

6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 8And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" 9Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason? 10Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." 12And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Satan Takes Job's Property and Children 13Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 14and there came a messenger to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 16While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 17While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 18While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 19and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

20Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

22In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Think on these questions taken from RM today:

“Life is not fair, but God is good.” Based on what we know of
Job’s character and lifestyle do you think he got what deserved? Explain.

When you face trials of various kinds does your faith increase or decrease? Do
you turn to God or away from God?

What does Job teach us about the relationship between enduring hardship and
worshipping God? How important is God-centered worship and praise especially
during seasons of dust and ashes?

Life is full of trials and I just pray that during them His people will remain faithful to Him knowing that He is good even when life is not, trusting Him in them, and worshiping Him through them, let His people not miss the lessons of growth to be obtained through them and the realization that if we endure them we will be more like Jesus than when we entered into them.

For any one who may still come here I have a little news to tell. A few weeks ago we found out that baby number 3 is on its way! We are siked and anxious to know if God is going to give us a little girl or another precious little boy.Either way we will be blessed! By my own calculations I am probably 1 1/2 to 2 months pregnant. I began getting sick about 2 weeks ago and am rather tired of it already. I really despise this part of the whole pregnancy process. With just moving into our new home and all I am trying to get into a new routine around here and preparing for Superman's homeschooling year beginning on the 30th of this month. We are excited and can't wait to get started.

JOYfully in Him,
Kelli

Here are some pictures of our new little rent home. We have yet to move in but hopefully will by this next week. It is a 3 bedroom, 1 bath home, with 2 living spaces. One of those will be turned into a schoolroom/playroom. It has a really nice sized backyard for the boys to play in and for us to maybe plant some vegetables. We are all excited. We would be moved in right now but we have VBS until Wednesday so after Wednesday we will have more time to really get moving.

JOYfully in Him,
Kelli

This morning I read the first two chapters in Numbers and was surprised to learn that through the inventory of the armies of Israel I learned that God is an organized and orderly God. I knew this already by 1Co 14:33 where it says; For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. Coincidently I am on a journey right now of become organized in all areas of my life. Included in this organization is not only my house but also my mind, my heart, my prayer life, my meditation on God's word, my disciplining and training my boys in His righteousness, my thoughts, my priorities, my reading, my curriculum for Superman's homeschoolingl, and for a plethera of other areas. But this morning as I not only "read" my bible but meditated on his words in the attempts to get to know God deeper I discovered that He is organized in all of his ways. Even in the paths of our lives. Nothing is accomplished in God’s kingdom without order and organization. While it may seem so to us, it is only an illusion - behind the scenes, God is moving with utmost order and organization, though we cannot see it.* I love the realization of this; that God even though our lives look and sometimes feel chaotic and like they are being blown around with the wind are infact organized in the light of Gods sovereignity. I don't know about everyone but for me that gives me a lot of peace and comfort. Right now our lives appear to be floating in the wind and we are just waiting for a big gust of wind to come our way and blow us in some direction, preferrable the one we want to go. Praise God that this is not the case and that we are able to have peace even when life seems to be blowing in the wind. We must always accept God’s order and organization, even when we don’t understand it.* We don't always have to understand to accept, put your life (in your frame of mind;for it is) in the hands of God and embrace His ways for you.

I am reading a book called The Organized Homeschooler by Vicki Caruana and it has been piercing my heart not with "how to's" but with the words of God and His will for my life as a home manager. The Lord spoke to me this morning in my study of Numbers just furthering the piercings!! Thank you Lord..............and I am getting on it. :0)

JOYfully in Him,
Kelli

*taken from David Guzik's commentary

You are confronted again and again with the choice of letting God speak or letting your wounded self cry out. Although there has to be a place where you can allow your wounded part to get the attention it needs, your vocation is to speak from the place in you where God dwells.

~Henri J. M. Nouwen

Speak tenderly to them. Let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Always have a cheerful smile. Don't only give your care, but give your heart as well.

~J. S. Bach

Almighty God,

as I cross the threshold of this day

I commit myself, soul, body, affairs, friends, to Thy care.

Watch over, keep, guide, direct, sanctify, bless me.

Incline my heart to thy ways.

Mould me wholly into the image of Jesus,

as a potter forms clay.

May my lips be a well-tuned harp to sound Thy praise.

Let those around see me living by Thy Spirit,

trampling the world underfoot,

unconformed to lying vanities,

transformed by a renewed mind,

clad in the entire armour of God,

shining as a never-dimmed light,

showing holiness in all my doings.

Let no evil this day soil my thoughts, words, hands.

May I travel miry paths with a life pure from spot or stain.

In needful transactions

let my affection be in heaven,

and my love soar upwards in flames of fire,

my gaze fixed on unseen things,

my eyes open to the emptiness, fragility, mockery of earth and its vanities.

May I view all things in the mirror of eternity,

waiting for the coming of my Lord,

listening for the last trumpet call,

hastening unto the new heaven and earth.

Order this day all my communications according to Thy wisdom,

and to the gain of mutual good.

Forbid that I should not be profited or made profitable.

May I speak each word as if my last word,

and walk each step as my final one.

If my life should end today, let this be my best day.

Knowing God is more than knowing about Him; it is a matter of dealing with Him as He opens up to you, and being dealt with by Him as He takes knowledge of you. Knowing about Him is a necessary precondition of trusting in Him, but the width of our knowledge about Him is no gauge of our knowledge of Him. ~ James I (J. I.) Packer

I encourage you to get to know God through reading His inpired word. When we go to the word of God to dwell in in His knowledge is it for merely selfish reasons rather than getting to know God more deeply. I was convicted of this awhile back while I was on our trip down to Austin. Rick needed to study and so I decided to pop in a Piper sermon to listen to titled Be constant in prayer for the Joy of Hope. I was struggling with dwelling in the word of God, every time I went to the word I left it unchanged and uninterested, as horrible as that might sound it is true. John Piper opened my eyes to the source of my problem, to my selfishness.

"The deepest need of every person is to know God. Not just to know about him, but to know him as your personal Creator, Redeemer, Judge, and Friend. So his first request is “that God . . . may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.” Do you know God? Really know him? Or more helpfully, we should ask, are we growing in our knowledge of God? Are we going deeper in how well we know God? This happens, Paul shows us, by praying for it. And this is not a one-time prayer for Paul. It is continual. “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers . . . that you might know God.” Be constant in this prayer! Pray this for yourself continually. Pray this for your family. Pray this for the church and especially her leaders.

More specifically in verse 17 he prays that we would have a “spirit of wisdom and revelation” so that we can know God. We cannot know God without the help of the Holy Spirit. And what the Holy Spirit does is to awaken and transform our spirit so that we can see and savor the wisdom and revelation that God gave to his apostles and prophets. He is a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, and he creates a spirit of wisdom and revelation.

When you read the Bible or listen to a Bible-saturated sermon you are hearing the wisdom and revelation of God. But what happens? Do you see it? Does it have an effect on you? Does it move you? Does it make you hungry for more of God? Does the wisdom and revelation appear beautiful to you? Do they taste sweet? Can you say with the psalmist, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103)?

If not, the first step in the remedy is prayer.

“Father, grant me a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of yourself. Please, don’t leave me to myself. I am so worldly. My thoughts and feelings are so unspiritual. I scarcely feel any awe or trembling or sense of spiritual beauty or sweetness or glory. Have mercy and by your Spirit awaken in me a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that when I read or hear your wisdom and your revelation I will have ears to hear and eyes to see the wonder of it (Psalm 119:8).”

Pray that for yourself. Be constant in that prayer. God will show you more than you ever dreamed he would."

~John Piper

Why do you read the word of God? Is it for merely selfish
reasons..........searching for verses for your current situation or are you
reading it for the sheer enjoyment of getting to know Him more deeply.

JOYfully in Him,

Kelli

Thus it is in hell; they would die, but they cannot. The wicked shall be always dying but never dead; the smoke of the furnacedascends for ever and ever. Oh! who can endure thus to be ever upon the rack? This word "ever" breaks the heart. Wicked men do now think the Sabbaths long, and think a prayer long; but oh! how long will it be to lie in hell for ever and ever?

—Thomas Watson

Can you grasp the reality of the severity of everlasting hell? I truly can not and even if I could it would not compare to the sheer pain and eternal agony. How can we not share the JOY that we have because of the hope of glory with those who are on the wide road to this eternal hell. We are so consumed in our own lives and in the business of them that we easly forget about all of these lost souls wandering around us. Are we called to preach the gospel to these lost souls? Of course we are. It is time that we understand deeply the consequences of not reaching out and preaching the gospel. We are here to display His glory to all of those around us making His invisible character visible.

For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

Rom 10:13-15

JOYfully in Him,

Kelli

A genuine revival without JOY in the Lord is as impossible as spring without flowers, or day-dawn without light. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

There is an indescribably JOY that lives in me but for some reason I find it hard to tap into at certain times. The life of a Christian should be filled with JOY in every circumstance. Why is it then that it is so hard to find? Did it ever occur to you that you are looking in all the wrong places? Christ is the only place in which you will find it, an everlasting and fullfilling JOY. There are other illusions called JOY that you can find to subdue you for awhile if that is what you are looking for, but I am guessing that that is not the kind of JOY that you seek to find. Here is where you can find it today if you too are looking for this divine JOY:

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
~ 1 Peter 1:8-9

JOYfully in Him,

Kelli

A Classical Homeschooling Forum has been created by Trivium Academy and it is going to be an amazing place for those of us who are using this method of homeschooling or for those who are thinking about using it or just interested in it period.

In here you expect to discuss the methods suggested by these book Teaching the Trivium, The Well Trained Mind, Classical Catholic, specific curriculums such as Tapestry of Grace, Veritas Press, and these other areas Latin Centered, and Classic Eclectic. Please stop by and join if you need some encouragement, information, or just desire to talk to other Classical Homeschoolers on a forum.

Joyfully in Him,
Kelli

I taught class tonight at church. Chapter 31 of Proverbs verse 22. A Tapestry of Beauty was the title of the chapter in God's Beautiful Woman by Elizabeth George. I am in love with teaching but I am still dealing with a spirit of fear in me. I fought hard today as I prepared myself for teaching my class. This was my third time. I am so thankful for this wonderful opportunity that the Lord has given me.

I stand before 20-25 women staring at me with blank faces. It always starts off rocky but gets smoother towards the middle. I really enjoy it. I just pray that God will give me a spirit of confidence and break me free from this shell that I have been living in and allow me to express my zeal for the Lord to these women.

Joyfully in Him,
Kelli

The JOYs of being a Mother are numerous and so often completely overlooked and even shunned! Shame on us!! Here is a list of my JOYs of being a Mother:

1. Disciplining and training them in His righteousness! What an awesome JOY.......oh how I pray that one day my children will arise and call me blessed..........and that I may have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (proverbs 31:28 ,3john1:4)
2. Washing mudstained and red juice stained clothes. What an easy one to miss! Who enJOYs doing the laundry and scrubbing out stains but when we reflect on the little hands or mouth that made the mess on that shirt or pants...........what JOY we can have in scrubbing!
3. Pleading voices.........."Momma! Momma!", "Can I have more juice Momma?", "When are we going to be there Momma" or for the 5th time before your second cup of coffee "He won't move out of my way Momma!" How can we miss this JOY of being a mother! We are their sustainers and they love us so much that they come to us for everything!! He he.......where is that daddy btw?
4. Picking up Toys for the 24th time today! Look at those dinosaurs, cars, swords, barbies, pretend clothes, colors, books and whatever else is lying down there...............these are apart of your blessings. They love those things, they bring them JOY so remember the JOY they get from them each time they play with them................and teach them to pick them up to! Pick up Toys together!!
5. Grocery shopping together! I love it! I would rather go with them than with out them. They make it so much more interesting and fun. With out them it is just grocery shopping but with them it is an adventure of Supermom! I love to watch my 5 year old run, climb, and hide up and down the isles and I love for him to help me and make suggestions! I love the JOY of having them with me.

Well, those are just some of the ones I came up with, but I am getting tired. I must go to sleep if I am to get up at my designated time in the morning!

Kelli

Here comes another day to make breakfast, clean the house, do homeschool with Superman, make lunch, play with T-Rex, make dinner, make the bed, do the laundry, and I am delighted and anxious to get started. Each day, I am learning, is a wonderful gift from God and so many of the days he has given me I have taken for granted and I have opened the day with a selfish and ungrateful attitude only thinking about the "things" that need to get done rather than the "people" I am blessing and finding the joy in that. Each and everything that we women do in our households no matther how mundane, repetative, or difficult they may be is a direct blessing on our families and a beautiful way of glorifying the Lord. That should take the - out of those and replace it with a big + and if today, you have an attitude of ungratefulness and selfishness stop right now and choose to change your attitude, choose to stop listening to your flesh, your selfishness, the world, and find the joy that you can have in this day of many (joyfilled) duties. Choose today whom you will serve?

My men are all still asleep in their beds this morning as I reflect on the past and plan the future of today. I love to be up early in the morning before any of them are awake. I hear one stirring right now, that needs to go back to sleep :0). Today I am so excited. Yesterday I went to a homeschool book sale and found some great deals on some much needed History curriculum. It was just what I was looking for. Next year Superman will be in the 1st grade and I am trying to get ready for it.

JOYfully in Him,
Kelli

I have been thinking lately, yeah you heard me I said thinking.......he he. I have to many blogs! 4 to be exact. They all have differnt purposes though and I do not post regularly on all of them just one (obviously not this one huh? :0). I wanted to share them all and then explain my new purpose for this one because it is to broad right now.

Homeschool Blog *where I post the most: Living to Glorify
Medowview Church of Christ webring: JavaMama:Coffee Meditations
Superman and T-Rex's Blog: The Adventures of Superman and T-Rex
Well the last one is this one so I don't need to give you the address!

I am however changing my purpose for this one. I really just want to use this one for expressing my thoughts in my journey of being a woman of God with the hopes to encouraging other women of God in this high and holy calling. Posts will be on homemaking, motherhood in general, teaching at home, servanthood in the calling of being a helpmeet, and ways in which we as women can glorify the Lord. So all posts will be focused on the Lord's most beautiful creatures...........his women :0). A lot of these posts will match the ones from Living to Glorify but not always so be sure to check, if you want to.

Well, I just remembered that I have yet another blog.......but I am not revealing it just yet because I don't want to yet. So make that a whopping 5 blogs.........my husband thinks I am crazy.

*CRAZY FOR BLOGS*

Joyfully in Him,
Kelli

"If I am going to have a busy day, I spend one hour with the Lord. If I am going to have a very busy day, I spend two hours with the Lord." Martin Luther

Don't forget to spend some one on one time with the Lord each morning to start your day off right. Does it feel impossible to have a meeting time with Him each day? It is difficult but with His grace it is possible to schedule it in. Get up an extra 15, 30, 45, or even an 1 hour earlier. Sacrafice a piece of your time in the morning before you run off to school, work, or just the daily activities by putting on some head phones and worshiping Him through music, or set up a reading plan and follow it each morning, or and pray for your day to come and ask the Lord to fill you with JOY for this is the day that He has made..................Psalm 118:24.

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,for in you I trust.Make me know the way I should go,for to you I lift up my soul. Psalm 143:8

JOYfully in Him,
Kelli

T-Rex is getting ready to turn 2 in June. I can not believe that he will be 2 years old! He is growing up so fast, to fast. He is beginning to talk in sentences and on Tuesday he decided to sleep in the bottom bunk so we have taken his baby bed down. I can remember the nightmare of a transition it was for Superman to go from the living room palet (don't ask) on the floor with Mama to his own bed. Listen to what I had to do. He had bunk beds a different set from now and at night and at naptimes I would put a movie on for him and then climb into the top bunk and wait until he fell asleep. Now sometimes this would take up to an hour or longer! It was misery and before that and the sleeping on the floor with Mama (again don't ask) we would have to drive him around in the car to get him to go to sleep. I am laughing at myself now as I think back at these terrible methods of settling your kids to sleep. We would at bedtime which was around 9 or 10 back then, keep in mind Superman was I think close to 1 years old, put his pjs on and pack him up in the car and drive for 30min-1hr until he fell asleep and sometimes we would drive for 30 minutes and then when we stopped the car to get out he would wake up so in reverse we went. Why I am telling all of this I don't know. At 3 years old or maybe a little younger we finally had to let him just cry it out and it was a difficult process for me to begin with, listening to him cry for up to an hour each night until he eventually fell asleep.

So I guess we learned our lesson with the bedtime methods and decided that with the next one we would not do what we did before. Some friends of mine used Baby Wise so I decided to give it a chance. I did it with T-Rex and it was very difficult but the end results were amazing for me anyway. Whether or not I will use it again I am not sure. I really missed rocking my baby to sleep sometimes and him crying to sleep each time I layed him down gripped my heart. I think that I will read the book again and chew on what he has to say spitting out what I think is unnecessary for my child and me to have to go through this next time around.

I got way off subject here let me retrack. What I was going to say was just that I am going to begin planning T-rex's Birthday party here pretty soon and I need to be as frugal as possible. The theme is of course Dinosaurs. Today awesomely I found a cake mold of a T-Rex with the directions and all on it for only $2 and then the other day at Target they had a ton of Dinosaur items in their $1 section. I am hoping that these sort of things will keep happening until June 17.

JOYfully in Him,
Kelli

Last week I purchased a new t-shirt from Target with the name of a band on it that I like. After I bought it and got it home I got to thinking about whether or not I should wear it. On the front of it is the name of the band, Aerosmith, and on the back is the year 1976. My thoughts were is this okay for me to promote as a Christian? If I wear this shirt what is it going to say about me? Of course that I am an Aerosmith fan but what about whether or not I am a Christian or not? Now, I am not saying that Christians can't or shouldn't listen to Aerosmith or any other non Christian group for that matter but should we promote them and wear them?

Is this important to even be thinking about? I don't believe that when we become Christians that we become less of who we are or that we have to give up who we were all together. I believe that some things can be salvaged after they have been sifted through the scriptures. Aerosmith, should I give them up? Bon Jovi, Guns n Roses, Poisen, Warrant, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain...............and many more artists that I enjoy listening to every now and then. Of course the songs from each one are carefully selected and do not offend my conscience in anyway.............and usually I hear them on the radio but I do get an urge to listen to them sometimes mainly because they are a part of my past, a part of me.

Now whether or not I listen to them should I promote them?

Comments....................

Wow it has been a long time since I have posted. The last couple of weeks I have been really dwelling on this phrase..........Let Go and Let God. In all of my difficult situations I have been trying to reflect on it, on letting go and letting God. When I first heard this phrase or read it which ever it was I thought to myself.........what does this mean? I have found that when you let go........of your fears, your jealousy, your pain, your grief, your selfish ambition, your greed, your hate, bitterness, your discontentment, you nervousness, and sometimes even your plans...............and let God take control of them you inevitably have............peace, joy, rest, and anwsers...............and the power that you need to persevere through and overcome your personal hindrance or obstacle that was in you way to glorifying the Lord and having His peace live with in your situations and circumstances.

Joyfully in Him,
Kelli

Opposition to the gospel

Tonight at our small groups we discussed Acts 4-5 and had some interesting conversations. I am so encouraged and motivated by the example of Peter and John in these chapters and how they rejoiced in there suffering because they saw it as a honor. An honor to suffer in the name of Christ, oh how I desire to have their frame of thinking in my own suffering.

v 41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

I think about the opposition that they encountered and compared to my own opposition is unthinkable to me and especially to rejoice in it. They were flogged which is an excrutiatingly painful type of torture to endure I am sure. The only type of torture I endure is an inner kind that I weep over. How ridiculous it sounds when I actually write it down and read it myself.

Anyway, tonight we discussed on how as Christians we will face opposition when we spread the gospel. There were some who didn't feel this way however and felt that some Christians will not be faced with opposition. If the word of God says we will have opposition then I believe we will have opposition. The argument was that God wants us to be happy (which I think could be a pontentially risky statement if not clarified) and not faced with these oppositions and that some of us do not have a problem with other peoples ridicules, rejections, rudeness, and objections and there for they are not facing oppositions.

There are many different types of oppostions and different levels as well. Peter and John were put in prison and flogged as an opposition to the gospel of Christ, some are killed in opposition to the gospel of Christ, others are simply laughed at, rididuled, punched and kicked, or just ignored. These are all oppositions but are different types and levels. I personally have only been harshly ridiculed and made fun of because of the gospel.

As a christian I feel that maybe I should have more to put after that one. What does it mean that in my 5 or so years as a born again believer I have had only one opposition to my faith? For me it means that I am not expressing my passion and zeal for the Lord as I could be or should be. And also as I am commanded to. Currently it is an area in my life which I am undergoing a lot of construction in. Not just the kind that is found on the roads in Louisiana that have been under "construction" for 10 years but more like a house under contruction on Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Joyfully, diligently, thoughtfully, and passionately under contruction with a real motivation to get it done quickly.

These are all of my thoughts on this right now...........or all that I feel like writing.

Joyfully in Him,
Kelli

Pray

For Emily she is going to be in surgery tomorrow morning starting at 7:30 and lasting 4 hours. Please take a moment if you are reading this and say a heartfelt prayer for this little girl and her family. They are all as you can imagine going through a tough time, thankfuly they have the Lord as their strength.

Thanks,
Kelli

2 Angels in Need

My heart is full of sadness and yet so much hope all at once. I have come across two little angels who are suffering. They are 9 and 7 years old and both little girls who are in love with Jesus, praise God. Candace Joy is the 7 year old and was diagnosed with gram positive cocci infection which is an extremely serious and painful disease. She has had 13 surgerys starting on the 8th and her last one being yesterday and she still has more to come. Please visit her site to learn more about this little girl.

Emily Starrs is the 9 year old and she was diagnosed with cancer. She is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday the 28th. She has her own blog that you must look at and her mother also has one as well. Please keep her close in prayers.

Both of these girls are little seeds of joy and have a faith that is stronger than some half their age. They are adorable and by what the mothers say of them amazing and a joy to be around.

Also go to Amy over at Dandelion Seeds for current updates and prayer request and a list for you to sign up to devote a specific time to be in prayer for them.

Joyfully in Him,
Kelli

The end of the Beginning

Three days in a row I have gotten up at 5:45 and read for an hour or more in the word of God. This morning I finished Genesis and it was so awesome to journey through it and for once get the whole picture of the beginning of His plan. I really enjoyed reading about Joseph's life. It is the first time that I have been so intrigued and drawn to the bible in a story way. All day long all I could think about was what was going to happen in chapter.......which of course I already knew bits and pieces of the stories but I had never put all of the pieces together all at once and been able to see the whole picture. It is a big difference.

I am so excited to start a new journey through Exodus tomorrow morning. I can't wait to see what God has to reveal to me through Exodus. One of the things that I am most looking forward to in each book and through each chapter is seeing God's soveriegnty and faithfulness more clearly and personally.

"Expresso" left this morning to suprise a close friend of ours. I am so excited for them to be able to dwell in eachothers presence for a while and talk together.

Devotion

I have started a new reading plan with some advice from my husband. I have wanted and been attempting to read through the Old Testament for the last few months now and have notice very little progress and I wasn't obtaining much from it either. So my husband suggested that I was reading it to slowly and I realized that I was not soaking it in prayer as well. I have made a schedule for my reading and I started it this morning. I am thouroughly excited about this journey for I long to know God deeper than I do now. Every morning I plan to read up to 25 chapters in each book unless they don't contain that many and then I will have to combine from the next chapter. This morning it took me about one hour. At first my thought was that is to long maybe I should cut it down to 15 chapters but then I caught myself, see that is about all of my "me" or "alone time" until my "T-rex" arises from his slumber. For a split second I almost deflated my time with the Lord because it took all of my time in the morning, it leaves no time for my selfish and meaningless other desires. I have decided to either get up earlier to do those or to do them only if I have time after my 25 or so chapters delving into God's word and alone time with Him.

I have had to check my motives for why I want to read through the Old Testament. I think initially I wanted to just read through it to say I had and to beable to join in conversations I could not do before but and I know that is why my first attempt at to do this was not fruitful or satisfying to my soul. This morning when I dived into His word I soaked it in prayer first and then slowly and excitedly journeyed through the Creation, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abram and Sarai, Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah, and left reluctantly with Abraham and Abimelech in chapter 20. The journey left me desiring more and understanding more of my Lord.

So I am devoting my alone time in the morning to the Lord. [Acts 2:42 "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."] I desire to be devoted to the Lord each morning as the Jews were in Acts to the apostles' teachings, to fellowship with eachother and to prayer. Devoted is a strong word because it means to give all of your energy, time, and your mind to the object of your devotion. It means that you will be faithful in your attempts, that you will fullfil what you said you would, and that even when it gets tough or even seems impossible at times you will persevere and be loyal in the end. I am devoted to my husband in our marriage and in the same way that I am devoted to him I want to be devoted to the Lord in my alone time with Him. This is something that I have desired for awhile now to be devoted but I warn you it takes discipline and desire. Getting up early is not easy for me but it is the only time I have to be completely alone and able to fully submerge myself in His word and in communion with Him with no interuptions.

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts” (1 Chronicles 28:9).

Frugal Prayers

I saved a bunch of money at...........................Albertsons today! I was so excited when the cashier told me I saved 6.49 that is actually a lot when it comes to shopping. I love being frugal it is fun and rewarding in many ways.

I have a prayer request for a little girl who is in critical condition right now. She is only 7 years old it is a very sad story, her name is Candace Joy, please pray for her.

Click Here to read about her.


You know there are alot of areas in our lives that we should be frugal or spairingly in but in the area of prayer never! Prayer is communing with the Lord for ourselves or in regards to someone else that should never be done spairingly but in abundance and consistently. So pray today, tomorrow, next week, daily for every single person that you know leaving no one out.


~kelli

So.....(for lack of a better title)

I am so tired right now, my mind is exhausted from an overload of thinking. I am almost done with my first Womens bible lesson on Proverbs 31:11.

Tomorrow we are all going to a circus. I can't say I am all to excited about it though. I do not care for them but my little "Superman" is extremely excited so I am happy for him. I am excited about going garage saleing in the morning! I am hunting an entertainment center, 18-24 month old baby boy clothes, and little pink girly newborn clothes. I haven't been in so long, I hope I find something.

Well, I need to go to bed I have a busy day with the family tomorrow!

Red Pepper Banana Pancakes

Every Tuesday night is Banana Pancake night for my boys and I. It is a little tradition we started last semester. Last night while I was making them I reached up into my spice cabinet for some Ground Cinnamon and accidently grabbed the Red Pepper instead. I didn't notice until I had sprinkled some in my mix! Luckily I was able to save the pancakes from being poured down the drain. In the background we listed to Jack Johnson's song Banana Pancakes while we were making them. "Superman" loves that song.........interestingly enough his favorite part in the song is the Hawaiian part which is mine too.

1 Peter 2:21-3:6

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps."He committed no sin,and no deceit was found in his mouth." When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

Ladies....have you ever read verse 3:1 of Peter connected with 2:21-26? I have not until the other day and it sent peace and joy flowing through my heart. We are called to be submissive to our husbands like Jesus was submissive to His Fathers will. I don't know about you but that gives me a little more power in the stand-alone verse that I had always read, not to say that it didn't have any before but when Jesus is directly related to it well...........what can I say?

I just got off the phone with my closest friend. It was a refreshing 1 hour and 27 minutes, which by the way is a record for me lately!!

Well, I will be teaching a class on Proverbs 31:11, did I already post that? Oh well. I am nervous.......what can I say? I had never heard before that the woman was to be the manager of the money. I had always assumed that the head of the house was to do that.......what do you think? As the manager of the home, should the wife be also the manager of the finances? In doing that does this give her a stepping stool to her head?

Praise God

I had to stop this morning and praise God for a little baby girl who survived someones horrific attempt to kill her. You can see her story here: Baby Survives Abandonment in Plastic Bag

A lot of Change going on......

"Expresso" is leaving in the morning to go to Austin for the second time this semester. I went with him last week but this week I need to stay home and focus on home schooling and managing my house/apartment. I enjoy some of the time alone because I am able to focus more fully on "Superman", "T-rex", and our dwelling place.

Reflect on Proverbs 31:11 for moment. What does it say to you? I will be teaching on this verse not this Wednesday but the next. I am terribly excited and yet terribly frightened! Stepping outside of your comfort zone is never the most pleasant experience but usually they are the most fruitful. I am thankfu that I have been challenged to break through my shell, it has been getting thinner and thinner through out the years. I am hoping that the Lord will work in me through this in order to change me into a better glorifying instrument for Him!

Everyone wants to change, but change demands desire and discipline before it becomes delightful. There is always the agony of choice before the promise of change.

Larry Lea

Living in Peace

Time management is of great importance to an orderly and godly home. I am learning the art of it through my Home Management Binder that was inspired by Candy the Genuine Profit. Setting up a Master Schedule for each day has really had a great effect on me and my family. I have been convicted to really discipline myself to manage my time in order to glorify the Lord more abundantly. Whether you eat or drink do all things to the glory of God 1 Corinthians 10:31. Selfish use of my time is not only dishonoring God but also a waste of time. Deu 10:12 ....what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.....and in order to do that we must see that our time is used to serve first and formostly the Lord. Anything not done ultimately for God is a sure waste of time. In everything we do here on earth we should in it give a glimpse of Him by revealing a piece of His glory.

The other day I came upon James 3:16 and wow did it bring with it a shadow of revelation. It spoke truth into what my daily life has been for the past 4 years.

Jam 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

It is the truth my home when I was selfishly seeking to gratify my own desires such ast reading, writing, computer surfing, or even cleaning if done selfishly my home was one of disorder. I was and am sometimes even now jealous with my time and not wanting to share a minute with anyone or doing anything that I do not neccessarily want to do but need to do. This has caused the majority of my days to be lived in disorder.

I do not believe that as a keeper of the home I am able to live in disorder. Disorder is contradictory to who God is and I am to glorify Him in and with my home and life then it can not be chaotic and of no order. 1Co 14:33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. Peace and disorder can not live together. They repell one another so in our homes by the use of our time do we have peace or disorder? Which do we desire to have? Of course we desire to have a home of peace, to make our homes a haven for our families.

Pro 31:27 She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

So let us look well to the ways of our households like the woman of Proverbs 31 who by the way is our perfect example of a virtuous woman in God's eyes.

Shhh.....be quiet

Daily I wake up with a goal that I desire to accomplish. Lately it has been the same goal, and maybe you can relate, to control my tone and my tendancy to errupt when circumstances become overwhelming. More simply put controlling my temper and being more quiet with my children. Sometimes I feel like my children see me as the Incredible Hulk mommy. Anyway, I have yet to accomplish or master this goal of suppressing the green mean mommy that lives within.

I found this to be inspiring:

"I endeavor to quietly......and calmly.....and determinedly.......endure life's challenges as they roll in and out with the regularity of the oceans's surf

You see my goal my prayer is always that I will not give in, give up, or quit. Instead of becoming incapacitated by emotions, I want to be that soldier who is beautiful in God's eyes....." (Elizabeth George in her book Beautiful in God's eyes.)

I read this the other night and how perfectly it described my desire in my goal for each day! Daily there are challenges rolling in and out and I want to quietly, calmly, and determinedly paddle on my board of endurance through those to catch the big wave way out there and ride it in. Today, as I go about my routine of cooking, cleaning, disciplining, homeschooling, and talking I am going to reflect on this:

*speak less often (Proverbs 10:19)
*speak only after I have thought about what I am going to say ( Proverbs 15:28)
*speak only what is sweet and pleasant(Proverbs 16:21;24)
*speak only what is wise and kind (Proverbs 31:26)
(Elizabeth George/Beautiful in God's eyes)

And one way for me to do this today, I am going to when the waves are rolling in a little faster than usuall going to remember my endurance board and paddle through them by speaking in a soft tone, like a loud whisper. I want to do this to help my mind be conscience of my goal all throughout the day. When I go to harshly rebuke my "Superman" for irritating his little brother for the 100th time today I will remember........shhh be quiet and whisper.

I pray that this will be effective.

Crock-pot recipe

Lemon Herbed Roasted Chicken

3-4 pound fryer or roasting chicken
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
juice of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon leaf thyme
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Rinse chicken well and pat dry; remove any excess fat. Place onion in the cavity of the chicken and rub the skin with butter or margarine. Place chicken in Crock-pot. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over the chiken and sprinkle with remaining seasonings. Cover and cook on Low 8-10 hours or on High 4-5 hours.

My chicken is in the Crock-pot right now. I am hoping for good results. Sounds good anyway, I will come back with a review on this recipe. I am serving it with rice and an undecided vegetable.

Update on the undecided vegetable, I have decided to make Sauteed Squash. This will be my first time to make it myself. I am trying hard to transform my cooking to be more healthy. I have not been cooking with vegetables for 5 years other than peas and corn from the can, and broccoli on special occasions. Sad isn't it. My husband loves vegetables and I don't but I want my children to love them so I need to expose them to them in their early years. I am going to be posting my new recipes in this journey of healthy cooking for my family.

Sauteed Squash

6 medium summer squash, sliced
1/4 cup butter
1 medium onion, sliced thinly or diced
salt & pepper

4 servings
30 minutes

Melt butter in large skillet.
1.Add onion and cook just till tender.
2.Add yellow squash and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring until squash begins to soften.
3.Cover and continue cooking over low heat until nice and tender (usually about 20-25 minutes).
4.I add lots of salt and pepper.

I am going to add some garlic powder to it too.

Well.......

"Superman" and I sat down today and let these words overcome and fill our minds and hearts....

"Jesus' blood never failed me yet
never failed me yet
Jesus' blood never failed me yet
this one thing i know
that He loves me so"

I told him to sit down by me and close his eyes and listen. We both sat there together listening to these words and both of us at the same moment began singing them together. It was for me a beautiful moment and the high point of the day. Before this song came on we were all "Superman", "T-Rex", and me dancing around the living room (one of our favorite things to do) to the Who we are instead cd by Jars of Clay. Everyday we have a praise and worship time where we do this to the music of various Christian artists. After the song was over we looked at eachother and smiled and I asked him

Me: What did that song make you think about?
Superman:It was sad
Me: Why?
Superman: Because of Jesus
Me: What do you mean?
Superman: He died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. That is sad.

I just wonder what all emotions and thoughts were running around in him little mind while we were listening to this song. We had a good conversation from there about the blood of Jesus covering our sins. He probably didn't quiet get all of what Momma said but one day he will put that puzzle piece with another in his head and the picture will become more clear over time for him. I love to see my son growing spiritually in his actions, thoughts, words, and knowledge. What a blessing!

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Sadly, Expresso's Pa is passing away. He is currently in Logansport La with his family. He is suppose to come home late tonight and then I think the plan right now is for all of us to get up early and go back. Death is such a sad thing, it shouldn't be really but our hearts and minds trick us into believing that it is. And there are times when it truly is sad, when the person is not saved then it is unbelievable sad. I have a few loved ones whom as far as I know were not saved before they passed. Pa though is not such a case, we are all pretty sure that he will be in paradise soon. This is something to rejoice over and I think we all will deep inside of ourselves, but saying "goodbye" is never easy. We are incapable of handling the emotions of loosing someone that is why it takes time to get over the death of a loved one.

Unbelief

Unbelief is actually perverted faith, for it puts its trust not in the living God but in dying men.
A.W. Tozer

In all unbelief there are these two things; a good opinion of one's self, and a bad opinion of God.
Horatius Bonar

Unbelief is not a misfortune to be pitied; it is a sin to be deplored. Its sinfulness lies in the fact that it contradicts the word of the one true God and thus attributes falsehood to him.
John Stott

Conversion, then, is repentance (turning from sin and unbelief) and faith (trusting in Christ alone for salvation). They are two sides of the same coin. One side is tails -- turn tail on the fruits of unbelief. The other side is heads -- head straight for Jesus and trust his promises. You can't have the one without the other any more than you can face two ways at once, or serve two masters.
John Piper

Faith

I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.
Hudson Taylor

We trust not because "a God" exists, but because this God exists.
C.S. Lewis

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.
Oswald Chambers

Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.
Augustine

Music: What if

by Nichole Nordeman
For a friend who thinks this Jesus stuff is nuts.

What if you're right?
And he was just another nice guy
What if you're right?
What if it's true?
They say the cross will only make a fool of you
And what if it's true?

What if he takes his place in history
With all the prophets and the kings
Who taught us love and came in peace
But then the story ends
What then?

But what if you're wrong?
What if there's more?
What if there's hope you never dreamed of hoping for?
What if you jump?
And just close your eyes?
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He's more than enough?
What if it's love?

What if you dig
Way down deeper than your simple-minded friends
What if you dig?
What if you find
A thousand more unanswered questions down inside
That's all you find?

What if you pick apart the logic
And begin to poke the holes
What if the crown of thorns is no more
Than folklore that must be told and retold?

You've been running as fast as you can
You've been looking for a place you can land for so long
But what if you're wrong?

Christianity : dissapointing results

The 50 most influential Christians in 2006?


As I was viewing the list I was surprised, why I am not sure, at the absence of biblical truth seekers and teachers. Ummm....Dr. Phil? Where was John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, Sinclair Furgeson and many others.

See what the evangelical outpost had to say about the list.

Homeschooling: capability

Got a knock on the door today and to my surprise my Saxon Math K was sitting on the balcony outside of the door. Next week I am going to start "Superman" in this math curriculum. He is very excited about starting it also, only because he saw the tub full of colorfull math manipulatives. I really think he is going to enjoy it though.

Being a mother/teacher is turning out to be a lot of fun. It was all very overwhelming in the beginning for me and "Superman". With much prayer, encouragement, time management, and counting to 100 it is a journey that is going to be well worth the wild ride. As a mother I realize that there are a lot of mothers who do not think that they are capable of being their children's teacher as well. We all know the verse of encouragement here.........I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me Phil. 4:13. This verse along with a lot of others has carried me to finding joy not only just enduring strength for my homeschooling journey.

Proverbs 31:10 Who can find a virtuous woman?

The Old Testament word virtuous refers to force and is used to mean able, capable, mighty, strong, valiant, powerful, efficient, wealthy, and worthy. We are all women and contain some level of the virtuous woman as described in Proverbs 31. We are powerful and capable in every area of our lives even when it comes to the task of being our children's teacher. If you have thought about homeschooling I encourage you to research it and pray deeply for God to reveal to you His will.

In His love,
Kelli

blogs, books, submission

I have found that my thoughts and my time concerning my place here has consumed all of my free time and there is need for some time management. I have a stack of books that I desire to read and find that all of my free time is being spent here. I enjoy writing but I also enjoy reading and I know that as a homeschooling mother of two and that number will grow my time for reading is going to become less and less over the years. So I am going to manage my time by alternating weeks of blogging and reading. Hopefully I will beable to fully commit myself to this schedule.

Right now my stack consists of:

Teaching the Trivium by Harvey and Lauri Bluedorn
Repairing the Ruins edited by Douglas Wilson
Excused Absence by Douglas Wislson
The Duties of Parents by Jacobus Koelman
Standing on the Promises by Douglas Wilson
Christian Love by Hugh Binning
Beautiful in God's Eyes by Elizabeth George
Defending the Faith by R.C. Sproul
To Live is Christ by Beth Moore

and this list is constantly growing. What is your stack look like?

This morning I reflected on being a submissive woman. To embrace the will of God like the mother of Jesus. Have you ever thought about how her life drastically changed. She submitted to the will of God for her life. I desire to embrace God's will for my life even if it is completely the opposite of what I had planned for it. His plans for me are an infinite more glorious than my own self absorbed plans.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Discerning Reader

Beautiful in God's Eyes a book on The Treasures of the Proverbs 31 Woman by Elizabeth George. I am currently reading this book for my Ladies Bible class. I have not heard of George before and know nothing about her. I have read the intro and the beginning of the first chapter and it looks good thus far, which is not far. I am hoping to find some truth and deep things through her thoughts on the Proverbs 31 woman. I am not interested in a feel good book that does not speak the hard truths of scripture. I enjoy well expressed "pretty" thoughts but so long as they are not all to surface and shallow. I do not want to give my time and energy to this book and leave it feeling as empty for truth as when I entered it.

I have learned that when delving into any book I must guard myself and be discerning. Prayfully opening its pages and soaking in only the well expressed "pretty” thoughts that are in sync with the words of God.

It is easy to be deceived through words in a book. A lot of times I think if the book we are reading is recommended by highly respected persons we know and has to do with a scriptural topic we assume that all that lies inside is truth and good for our spiritual nourishment. I found this to be very dangerous thinking. As with everything we do, from watching TV to thinking secretly, we must decipher between the clean and the unclean.

I have been asked to help lead this Ladies Bible class and if you knew me you would know that this has me trembling with fear. Leave me a comment if you have read any of Elizabeth George's books...............I would love to hear what you have to say about this author.

In His Love
Keli

Blog Surfing

I have this problem called "can't sleep" and not because I just can't or any medical reasoning but simply because I don't want to. Every night I vow at about 8:00 to go to bed before 10:00 and every night, it never fails, I miserably fail to keep my vow and end up rebuking my self quitely in my head. So here I am at 11:36, thinking subconsciously I still have 24 minutes left to blog. I just got back from "blog surfing" and found a few that I really enjoyed reading. They make me feel just a tad inadequate in my posting but that is okay I am secure in my blogging....ha.

Sting my Heart
Blessed with Sons
The Broken Messenger
Chasing Contentment
Tulip Girl

They are all great reads. I have enjoyed reading their thoughts.
Okay well 14 of my 24 minutes have been taken so now I must use the rest of them to settle into bed.

Reflection:middle of day

Well, it is my "coffee meditation" time or that is what I have come to call it. A time where I heat up a cup of coffee from that morning and put in about 3-4 tbs of cream, 5-6 packets of equal (off brand), and a teaspoon of sugar for a sweet creamy cup of java. I usually sit down at this old computer and begin to check blogs, forums, and write on one of my to many blogs. We just walked in our door about an our ago from our morning worship service and some good fellowship with some friends afterwards. T-rex is down for his afternoon nap and Superman is watching his movie of the day, oh and Expresso is playing on his laptop. He is in a "I have a dream moment" meaning he and some friends have thought up something and are dreaming about how they would go about doing it.

There is a word that was said by the minister this morning and one I have heard quite often from the mouth of my own hubby it is agnostic. I never new what it meant until today. Latte tried to explain it to me on more than one occassion but I was never fully engaged in listening to him, sorry :). So I decided to look up its definition and I found this:

ag nos tic
noun

• 
  One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.
• 
  One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.

Unbelief, in distinction from disbelief, is a confession of ignorance where honest inquiry might easily find the truth. "Agnostic" is but the Greek for "ignoramus."
Tryon Edwards

An agnostic usually holds the question of the existence of God open, pending the arrival of more evidence. They are willing to change their belief if some solid evidence or logical proof is found in the future. However, some have taken the position that there is no logical way in which the existence or the non-existence of a deity can be proven.

For me I have not logical proof nor solid evidence to point to my creator God other than my faith and the bible which because fo my faith I believe is His words and infallable. The Lord is the one who is to open the eyes of the agnostic person. Their hearts are not hard and closed to the thought of God but they do need for a believer to reach out to them and help them search for their so called "solid evidence" they need to believe in Him. The Lord can change their definition of "solid evidence" or "logical proof" and with prayer the Lord can give them this evidence they need by allowing the Spirit to fall on them. This is my evidence.........my faith.

Hebrews 11:1-3

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Rom 1:19-20

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

My thoughts are not profound I know, maybe one day :0).

Somethings different

So I decided to decorate. Do you think it is nice? I think I like it which probably means I will be changing it soon. Just a little here and there. I don't have much to say other than that. I have been thinking a lot lately about meditating on the Lords words more. Here is a verse for you to linger your thoughts on for a moment:

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. ~Psalm 63:1

I love to read over Davids thoughts. They reach into my inner self and pull out my desires and passions for the Lord. It is interesting to read through them and see the different spiritual highs and lows that David was enduring through this time in his life. I find myself facing them and that is probably why I enjoy his thoughts so much, because I can relate to them in my own way. When I am low I pull encouragement from when he was high and when I am high I am reminded of when I was low and praise God for never forsaking me to stay in my low. I am not sure if any of that mumbling I just did made any sense but it made some to me.

*Glorify God and enjoy Him today

Precious Time Missed

Have you had some alone time with the Lord today? I haven't but I need it. I didn't get up this morning for it and am dissapointed in myself. I need to have more self discipline when it comes to getting up in the morning to have some alone time with Him. It is mighty selfish of me to sleep late and miss that time. Psalm 119:15 is what I want to do every morning.

I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.

Every day I believe this is the best way to start. Meditating on His precepts and considering His ways not my own. May the Lord give you rest this Saturday and Sunday and prepare you for the week to come.

Blessings*

awaiting its arrival

I just ordered Teaching the Trivium by Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn. I am so excited. I have been wanting this book since the day I layed eyes on it. I have to say though after thouroughly inspecting its contents I am a tad bit intimidated by the vast amount of information in contains. I am not sure I am able to hold that much information from one book. I am not anxiously awaiting its arival in a few days. Every knock on the door is going to flood me with excitement and hope. I have heard and read only good reviews of this book.

The past few days the Lord has turned the pages in my bible to Psalm 100. I have not looked for it, it has just been continually finding me.

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving thanks.

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

And then we as a family have just started Fighter Verses together. It is awesome and the first verse for memorization is Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

This morning as I was dwelling on Psalm 100 I noticed something that they both had in common. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God. Both of these passages that I have not looked for in any way but have been coincidentally presented to me instead have this same message in them. Interesting.

I don't know if God speaks to you in this way but I am certain that He does with me. I often miss his subtle whispers to me. I pray that if He does speak to you this way listen to what He is whispering to you. Don't just say oh cool and then move on, dwell deeply on the message, the similiarities, the words that jump out at you and soak in His wisdom for you. He definetly spoke directly to my heart with these two places in his infallable word. He never ceases to amaze me with His overflowing love and glory!

*Praise the Lord for He is God, a faithful God*

Our Study

Romans 1:1-17

Rick and I started a study in Romans yesterday. We are being lead by John MacArthur in this study. I am excited to learn more about Paul and the christians in the city of Rome. I never saw the grace aspect in Pauls converstion queit as clear and overwhelming as I did last night after reading it again.


Act 26:9 "I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
Act 26:10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.
Act 26:11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
Act 26:12 "In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.
Act 26:13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.
Act 26:14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
Act 26:15 And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
Act 26:16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,
Act 26:17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles--to whom I am sending you
Act 26:18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
Act 26:19 "Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
Act 26:20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
Act 26:21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
Act 26:22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass:
Act 26:23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles."
Act 26:24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind."
Act 26:25 But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.
Act 26:26 For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.
Act 26:27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe."
Act 26:28 And Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?"
Act 26:29 And Paul said, "Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am--except for these chains."

In an instant only because of the grace that the Lord lavished upon him Paul was transformed from a self-centered man to a Christ-centered man. It was from nothing that he had done. He definetly did not deserve the gift of grace that he recieved that day. He went from killing christians to converting christians. It made me think about my own conversion. The same grace that saved Paul was given to me as well one day about 3 or 4 years ago.

Rom 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
Rom 1:2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
Rom 1:3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
Rom 1:4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
Rom 1:5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
Rom 1:6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
Rom 1:7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
Rom 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you
Rom 1:10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
Rom 1:11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you--
Rom 1:12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.
Rom 1:13 I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
Rom 1:14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
Rom 1:15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Rom 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

serve in verse 9 can also be translated worship. I found this to be profoundly interesting. In every area of my life when I am serving the Lord I am in turn worshiping Him. It has given me a new perspective on serving Him. When I serve Him I worship Him.

When I serve Him today by washing the dishes, disciplining my children, doing laundry, making the bed, changing diapers, mopping, being submissive and respectful to my husband and everything else that is hard, less desirable and not so exciting doings in my services to the Lord I am worshiping Him.

A New Look at Perfectionism in the Home

Life in our homes should be characterized by joy and thanksgiving where children are taught and nourished in a way that takes their souls into account. ~ Nancy Wilson

This is the last sentence in an awesome article on trying to be a perfect domestic engineer. I am one that strives for the man made Perfectionism in my home, I fail daily and become distressed at my failure. This morning I read what Nancy had to say and it brought me much comfort.

Blessings

Guess what friends...

**~Freedom in Christ forum is back ~**