Look Around....

Loved this post about homeschooling, here are some quotes:
So I’ll send my child to public school during her formative years, watch as her attention starved peers attempt to tear her to emotional shreds for the next decade, and then, at the end of it all, she’ll be “socialized”? Really?
What’s next? Should I soak in a tub full of sewage and hepatitis for the sake of “health and hygiene”? Thanks, but I’ll pass, on both counts.
“Oh, but you don’t want to be too protective of your kids,” I’m told. “You don’t want to shield them.”
Yes. Yes I do. That’s my job. I will shield them and I will protect them, because they are my children and that’s why I’m here. Again, I understand that not everyone can home school, but it’s truly insane, and dangerous, and appalling to pretend that a child benefits from the sort of bullying and social torment that is rampant in modern public schools.
Good Lord, look around you. Are you surrounded by well adjusted, mature, “sociable” individuals?
Where are they? Where are these “socialized” people I hear about so often? I don’t see many of them, but I do see a lot of narcissists, and substance abusers, and people on psychotropic medication, and people who have never been in a healthy relationship in their entire lives. I see a lot of dependency and insecurity. I see a lot of desperation and confusion.
http://themattwalshblog.com/2013/10/23/we-are-going-to-home-school-our-kids-but-thats-only-because-we-hate-education/

To My Lovely Daughter......


Dearest Katie,

     As you complete a decade of your life on this earth, I'm reminded of your wonderful, loving and generous spirit that has been evident in everything about you.  You were first a miracle to our lives and now you are an example of a loving, obedient daughter and a caring, compassionate soul to many.  My greatest joy comes in knowing that you accepted Christ as your eternal Lord and Savior and that you want all that He has for you and your life and to do His will only.
     You are about to embark on a new decade in your life and by the end of this one, you may very well have a family of your own.  That saddens my heart, yes, but it also brings peace knowing that you are going to become a virtuous girl, and then a woman, and I trust that you will always seek to choose God's way and that comforts my soul.
   To celebrate your life thus far, I just want to say that I love you with an enduring, unconditional love that comes from being a parent that God chose to entrust to have the blessing of......you!  Happy Birthday my dearest daughter and enjoy this new season in your journey of life!

Momma

External Obsession

Years ago, I lost weight and became extremely fit and even started doing personal training.  I lived it, breathed it and my life was so focused on fitness that it became a god in my life.  I had my body fat down to 18%, went from a 20 to a 4/6 and could eat so much because of all my muscle - I was a machine!  Then, liver issues started up and I ended up in the hospital and that was my wake-up call.  I had got so focused on the external that the internal became second place.  I constantly talked about exercise, what to eat, etc. because it is what I THOUGHT about most of the time.  It consumed me and my exterior body was so important to me that I did whatever I needed to take make sure it was looking good - while my interior; my spirit went on the back-burner.

1 Timothy 4:6-11

If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
For bodily exercise profiteth little
: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
These things command and teach.

This has been part of the reason I haven't lost my weight or returned to that level of fitness.  It isn't that I lack the knowledge to do so.  I don't want to get back to that place in my life and become someone so obsessed with the external.  I know that I can lose my weight and be fit without the obsession, but I'm very cautious after God let me learn that lesson.

Obsession:
: a state in which someone thinks about someone or something constantly or frequently especially in a way that is not normal
: someone or something that a person thinks about constantly or frequently
: an activity that someone is very interested in or spends a lot of time doing

Being so obsessed with fitness and nutrition is moving the focus off of Christ and on to our bodies as the god or goddess.  You can feel this spirit when you come across someone that is obsessed with their bodies - they can't seem to talk about anything else and they seem to always think that you are focused on your weight and will readily want their advice (or buy what they are using).

Are we more focused on our bodies than Christ or our ministry?  Are we changing the worship of God to the worship of our bodies or health?  Just at what point does it cross that line?  Are we more successful getting someone on special diet than to get saved?  The world is dying and going to hell but we have fit bodies - after all, health matters more right!?  Cities need churches and preachers, mission fields need missionaries...there isn't much time to be obsessed with ourselves.

Don't let your external become more important then your INTERNAL life - the spiritual one!  Keep God first and keep the worship on Him and stay away from the idolatry of the flesh as it is corrupt and dying.  You can spend your life consumed with health and then die of a heart attack!  God is the one that has all that in control.  Some of the most loving, compassionate souls that I know - who really make a dent in the Kingdom of God of helping to save souls are not so fit and 'healthy'.  As my daughter told me, "Mom, your body shows you love your kids more than exercise."  Sure that was funny but it has so much truth!  We show the world what is important to us and we show God just who we worship.

When God Provides

Malachi 3:10

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Since having my son and him having his severe milk allergy, our budget said we could NOT afford the $400-a-month formula.  It didn't work on paper but God provided.  My husband's employer's business started booming and then came the overtime.  Without that overtime, we wouldn't have had the money to buy my son's sole source of food!  That scared me but God never failed.

Not only did God provide the money for the formula, he also provided some astounding blessings, one being my couch.  I didn't think I would ever get this "dream" couch but God opened a door for us and it was just standing wide open and we were blessed.  Sometimes God makes the impossible - possible, just to show us that not only can he provide and meet our needs but He will also meet some of our WANTS!

The new year is on the horizon in a few months and this means some serious increases in our health insurance.  It doesn't work on paper.  However, we are going to stand by our principles of no debt and not leaning on the government but leaning on GOD!  And if the past is any indication of the future - my God will make the impossible; possible!!

Share your stories in the comments of how God provided for you in those times where it just didn't seem possible!