Angels are Rejoicing

Christian has a cracked skull so we have slowed down and limited our activities outside of the house.  During this time we have been taking the time to do home church rather than venture out on Sundays.  We have been praying for several specific things during the last few weeks and have spent much time in prayer as indivisuals and as a family.  Christian has been asking lots of questions and yesterday Jeremy told him when he was ready to take the questions, and answers, seriously to let him know.  Right after we finished up with our church he went over to Jeremy and said "Daddy you told me to tell you when I was ready and to remind you to talk to me."  Jeremy sat down right then and talked with him a little bit and asked him some questions.  Christian said he was ready to pray and we prayed with him.  I even caught Brogan stopped in the hallway praying with him also.  Christian accepted Christ as his Savior!  And, once I thought about the date I realized that it was exactly 8 years ago on the same day that I was baptized.  How cool is that?!  Super cool!!  He was so excited the rest of the day and walked around like a totally different little boy.

Thank you, Jesus, for coming to our rescue!!

Devotionals

I am horrible about keeping this blog up.  UGHHH!!!  I had good intentions starting off the year but I just can't seem to keep up.

Well, we have been continuing our devotionals and, we have been doing at least 3 a week which was my goal for us this year.  Most weeks we have been able to do more but we haven't made it every day.  Not yet at least. 

The kids are really chipping in on them also.  All but one that is.  Our little 20 minute devo time sometimes runs into 45 minute conversations.  I love that!  I get as much out of them, if not more, as they do.  Several times they have brought me to tears.  That is just sooo unlike me.  The younger kids laugh and the older ones just have this "what just happened" look.  They have been great and I will try to do better at posting about them.

In the meantime, something that has really been on my heart lately is Satan and how he is so rampant and in so many places.  Our family is, and has been, facing some tough times.  I have always known Satans presence but I am now fully aware of how infiltrates every place.  Our Christian schools and businesses, churches and friends and acquantences that profess to be "Christian" are being taken over by the Devil.  So many people in leadership positions and they are clearly NOT following Biblical principles.  It is hard to see your children and your family persecuted for taking a stand and standing on the side of the Lord and in return they get no support from those that should be supporting them most.  (I can't imagine what true persecution would be like as those that face it knowing their lives may be in jeopardy!?  I can only imagine how it was for Jesus as his was so much more than ours is.)  The grey area that so many people live in and then want to justify.  Wanting to be "Christian" on Sundays and when it suits them best.  I pray that we train our children to be true Bible, Jesus following Christians.  I pray that we are the same. 

Please join me in praying for our churches, schools, friends, families and communities.  Pray that they will not be taken over by Satan and that Christians will stand up for Christ.  Even when it is not comfortable to do so.

Please pray for our family that we can be living examples of the Word and for open doors wherever it is that God may lead.

Most of all, just pray.

Devotionals: Week 1, Day 2

Jeremy lead our devotional tonight and we looked at Phillipians 1:19-26.  James 3 came up again as did Romans 10:10-12. 

Did you know that to succeed, truly succeed, at something you have to put in 10,000 hours of work toward it?  10,000 hours!  If you start today and worked at it just 1 hour a day it would take you 27 years to master it.  Okay, lets speed it up and work 3 hours a day at it.  Now you are down to 13 years.  WOW!  We talked with Joshua, Codey and Brogan about what they want to do.  What are they interested in or want to excel at?  Where are they at heading towards the 10,000 mark?  We encouraged them to find one thing that they wanted to excel at and start working towards it today.

We also gave them a mission going into the first day back at school.  Find someone to lift up or encourage that you don't normally talk to.  They will be asked who they lifted up and how.  This is going to be hard for them the first few times I'm sure.  Praying they have the strength and courage and that they find just the right person!

We reviewed Proverbs 13:3 (Brogan almost has it down) and Brogan and I closed us with prayer.

Devotionals: Week 1, Day 1

Tonight we had our first family devotional of 2012.  We have tried to make this a regular part of our evenings but we always get busy and sidetracked with all  of the things that the kids have going on.  It is not an excuse, it is just the facts.  One of my 10 goals for 2012 was to have a family devotional at least 4 times per week.  I tried to write "everyday" but just didn't think that would be realistic right now for our family.  Hopefully, we can work up to that by the end of the year but for right now, four times a week is our goal.

So, our first one of 2012 was reviewing the sermon from today.  I actually took quite a few notes today so I had something to look back on as my memory is not so good when it comes to scripture (another of my goals).  We also talked about taming the tongue and what James 3 says about the subject.  This is something that we have seen our kids really need to work on when it comes to each other.  It seems this year has been a really bad one for how they speak to each other.  While they are great with others and their friends, when it comes to each other they have very short fuses.  And, it isn't just them.  I have found that I have been that way also.  So, we are all working on taming the tongue.  Hence, our first family memory verse is Proverbs 13:3 "The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin."  In addition, we asked the kids how they felt they rated compared to one year ago.  Had they grown spiritually or are they on a backslide?  How did they rate themselves?  Then I went child by child and told them what I had seen, good and bad, and what I see that they need to work on.  I then encouraged them to pray about where we are as a family and where God wants us to be.  Are we where God wants us?  What do we need to do to get there?  This has really been on my heart over the last few months but it has been heavy on my heart over the last 2 weeks.  I feel we are supposed to make a move.  Not necessarily moving cities, though it may be.  I don't know.  Just a move somehow.  Church home, job, city, country?  I hope pray they are praying for God's direction for themselves and our family.  We ended with the boys praying and encouragement for each of them.

Thankful Thursday- "4"

I found this cute idea of doing "Thankful Fours" in the November issue of Family Fun Magazine. I thought it would be a cute way to teach Christian what the number four looked like as well as focus on the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.  I also thought it would be a cute addition to Thankful Thursday, even if it isn't focusing on a letter.

I cut out the number four on different designs of scrapbooking paper so that everyone would have something for their personality.  Each member of our family got two fours to write what they were thankful four on the back of.  The responses were so cute!

After they wrote what they were thankful for I punched a hole on one side and hung it from the lattice in our kitchen with yarn.  Now when you look into our kitchen you can see what our family is thankful four!  It feels so good to walk into a place where thanks-giving is not just one day of the year.  Hopefully we will keep this up and not limit it to just this month! 

So, you are probably wondering what everyone was thankful for. 

Here are some of the responses...

My Cup

That Momma and Daddy are willing to help me with 4H

Everything

God and Heaven

Family

Basketball

That God is Good

Jesus

Daddy's Job

Nap Time (YEP!!!  That on is mine!)

So, take the challenge...

What are YOU thankful four?

Proverbs 22:6

"Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

That is definetly what we are doing when it comes to the kids and our homemade salsa. Just look at Rylen chowin' down...

When I made the comment that I was training him right a picture that hangs in our home came to mind. Amazing how God speaks to us in the little, everyday things of life!

All kidding aside, this verse has been one that Jeremy and I have tried to live by when raising the kids. There was a point a year or so ago where Jeremy was questioning whether or not we were doing the right things in discipling them. We had been talking about it for a couple of days and even on the way to church one morning. When we arrived a woman that we know came up to us in the parking lot with something wrapped up and said "God put it on my heart to do this for you." I was going to wait until we got home to look at it but Jeremy insisted that we look at it right there. When we opened it up the above picture is what we found. This is one of the best gifts that we have ever received! It spoke exactly to what we had had concerns about and was confirmation that we were indeed trying to do the right things. This picture hangs by our computer in our bedroom. I see it several times everyday and it reminds me to just continue on the path that God has laid for us and our children. If we do that then we will all turn out just fine. I have to say that I have also been truly blessed to have this woman in my life. First as an acquantence then as a Mentor Mom with our MOPS group. Lynn, thanks for your humbleness and openness, for being a prayer warrior and for always being there when needed. You are a true blessing!