Thankful Thursday

It has been a REALLY long time since I have done a Thankful Thursday post! Maybe, I can finally establish a normal blogging routine and participate regularly! So with that:

I am thankful to meet new ladies through blogging who share a common interest in growing in God's word and developing friendships with a genuine love for Christ!

I am thankful for God's provisions.

I am thankful for safety as my youngest daughter and I were in a small accident. Also thankful for no damage to my SUV.

I am thankful for a small overnight camping trip with our son and two of his friends - boys only! Filled with fishing and biking, creating memories special for him!

I am thankful for our church opening a nice space to the small co-op I lead.

I am very thankful for modern technology, especially when it comes to the weather. We here in Tampa have several days to prepare for a storm that could come our way early next week. Yes, it will mess things up with the Republican National Convention. Yes, it will really mess up our plans to spend the week at the beach camping next week. But nonetheless, thankful that we have plenty of time to prepare.

I am thankful, Lord willing, for one last chance to get away with the family for the fullness of homeschooling kicks in. Providing Isaac stays far enough away, we plan to head out to the beach for one last vacation of fishing and kayaking and beach combing!

I am thankful that we are off to a good pre start homeschooling!

I am thankful for my family. When I see marriages falling apart around me, it makes me realize just how blessed I truly am.

Share your thankfulness today over at Iris's site here.


 

Being Neighborly

There is a really great post at Raising Homemakers about Teaching Our Daughters to be Neighborly. You can read it here. I especially loved these thoughts:

We cannot know what form human need will take as it knocks at our door today. Perhaps a tired mom, a burned-out homeschooler, a hurting wife – a neighbor with hunger in her heart and not in her cupboard. That emptiness Jesus is willing to fill, and He may use you and I to be a part of His plan. As a young girl, I always wanted to be a missionary. My Mom would smile and gently remind me that the best place to start was in our own home. Our daughters don’t have to be sent off to a third-world country in order to advance the cause of the Gospel. Our neighbors are our mission field and with a little creativity, opportunity to interact and show them the love of Jesus will be abundant.

My oldest has a heart to be neighborly. So it was interesting to read this and then see how it applies to us. Funny thing I first noticed, I can tend to discourage being neighborly! Delena loves to bake. She certainly doesn't get that from me, I'm OK to bake a cake or a brownies or even a cheesecake once in a while. But this child loves to bake, from scratch. Lately our supplies of brown sugar, confectioners sugar, etc...has been running out weekly. In this post, Jacinda comments how in times past, neighbors would borrow food. Whenever we run out of something, the first thing Delena wants to do is go to a neighbor. Thinking more that it would be a nuisance, I discourage her! Now I need to re-think letting her borrow a cup of flour or sugar or whatever once in a while. I certainly don't mind when a neighbor asks me, so it shouldn't be a problem for Delena to ask them.

Second, I have seen Delena want to be welcoming and loving to our neighbors by baking them things. Our neighbor across the street had his father pass away. She made him homemade chocolate chips cookies. He was quite impressed that she thought to do that. Apparently we have had a missionary family move in behind us. Delena watches for them to be outside so she can go meet them and plan a time to take over a sweet treat. Even last night, a single mom just moved into our neighborhood - literally just as a renter was moving out, she pulled in from Oklahoma! My two girls went to meet them. The mom was unpacking some basic items just for sleeping and the girls helped them unload a few boxes. It went so fast I didn't even have a chance to get my husband to go down and help them unload!

Yes, I am encouraged! It is still very possible to be neighborly and I am thankful that my girls seem to want to love on our neighbors. It really isn't hard and they are encouraging me to do the same. After all, I should be setting the example to them, not the other way around - yet here I am learning from two girls who have a heart that only Jesus can cultivate and mature. Feeling blessed today :)

Have a great Monday!

 

Dear Stay at Home Mom

Trevin Wax, at the Gospel Coalition, wrote this incredible post to stay at home moms over at his blog. You can read the whole thing here. 

Here is just a little bit:

You scan blogs and read books about being a good mom. You find some helpful tidbits here and there, often from women who are grandmothers now. Women you can learn from but who seem to have forgotten the struggle. They seem to have it all together. In your heart, you want to be the kind of mom who trains up kids to make a difference for the kingdom. You know it’s an honor to be entrusted with these kids. You know you’ve only got one shot. You want to be the mom who teaches them the Bible, models how to pray, and trains them up in the fear of the Lord. But most of the time you feel like you’re barely holding it all together. Your house cleaning can’t keep up with your kids’ mess-making. The kids embarrass you by acting up right when your guests arrive. Your husband doesn’t get just how worn out you are by the end of the day. You come to the end of your patience. You lose your temper. Then you feel worse. The last thing you consider yourself to be is a “good mom.” And you think to yourself, It’ll be a miracle if my kids turn out okay. And – surprisingly – that’s right where God wants to meet you. The place where you admit your powerlessness and your need for Him. It’s only by God’s grace that any kid grows up to be a force for the kingdom.

And this:

It’s divine grace that will transform your parenting – not guilt. It’s grace that will keep you going and serving and scrubbing when you’re exhausted and worn out. It’s grace that will conquer your feelings of inadequacy and remind you of God’s love for you in Christ. It’s grace that goes for the heart of your kids, not just their behavior. God has demonstrated the fullness of His love for you through the cross of His Son, even while you were still a sinner.

Why Your Family Is So Important

Here is an awesome broadcast from Dannah Gresh. You can listen online or read the transcript. Here is a quote from Dannah:

In 1911 the Mona Lisa was stolen. The captain of the guard turned the corner to find four posts where once she stood. He reasoned to himself, “They must have taken her for photographic purposes to market her.” He did nothing. He consulted with other guards on duty, and they did nothing. The greatest picture in the world is stolen and those entrusted to its care did nothing. That’s us, Church. The greatest picture of the gospel is our marriages and our families, and all too often we do nothing because we are lulled into complacency. It just seemed normal the way that our children are behaving today. The average marriage today has no yada—no mystery—no picture of the kingdom. I want to issue a simple challenge to you today for when you go home. We could talk about all kinds of ways where we strategize to protect this picture—this holy picture of Christ and the Church. But I want to just issue this challenge. I want you to go home and start marriage counseling for your children—whether they are three or thirteen or twenty-three. I want you to begin to plant a desire in them for family, and I want you to do anything at any cost to protect it.

Its only 24 minutes long...worth the listen. Start giving your kids marriage lessons!

 

Modest: Men and Women Clothed in the Gospel

This looks like a really good book from Tim Challies. Read about it here. I plan to get the Kindle edition!

 

Catching Up

It has been a while since I posted on here. So I thought as I try to get back to blogging it would be a good time to catch up the last couple of months.

• Homeschool promotion (check) 
• Homeschool evaluations (check) 
• Memorial Day trip camping (check) 
• VBS (check) 
• Tropical Storm Debbie (check) 
• Girls camping trip to plan for co-op (check) 
• Family vacation in the Florida Keys (check) 
• Family visit (check) 2012 Olympics (check) 
• New curriculum ordered (check) 
• School supplies bought (check) 
• New tile in kid's bathroom (check) 
• Visits to the beach with friends (check) 
• Set up My Well Planned Day software (quasi check, they are still in Beta).

And now, I am ready to start the summer! Ha!

Here, the summer is winding down. We actually started back to homeschool, three days a week through August. Bible Bee competition is coming on August 25th. And we are squeezing in one more camping trip before school starts full time!

Changes are coming....Delena is now a middle schooler. Of course, that means making adjustments in our schooling to teach dialectic classes. She will also be start youth group at church, which btw, has me very very very nervous. I'm not liking this whole youth group idea but we will try it for a bit and see. I know two parents who plan to be VERY involved. Taya will promote to first grade at church which for her means she has to start coming to big church with the family. This isn't too big of a change because she has come with us on occasion before.

Speaking of youth group, Wednesday night activities will be kicking up again soon and I will be leading a Precept Upon Precept class with my friend, Betsy. We are going to lead Zechariah. We are trying to work with our church to implement Precept's Family Discipleship plan, but couldn't get the details worked out before the start of fall semester. So, now we are aiming towards January and working through the book of John.  I am excited to work with our pastors and women's director to design this program for our church!  I pray parents will get excited about studying the Word of God together.

And, very exciting news to celebrate....my son, Caleb, was baptized July 29th at our church.  It was so neat to have my mom and Mark's dad both there to celebrate.  His best friend's family also celebrated with us!

That about sums it up!  Now that summer is over, when I thought I would have lots of time to work on my blog, maybe I can actually have more regular posts here!

Happy Monday!

 

Sunday Scripture

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God's angels worship him.” Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.” But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1 ESV)