Christian Homekeeping

My mind was brought back to my dad once again and his humility.  My dad would hold foot washings at our church growing up a few times a year.  We would move the pews to face each other in a long line across the church.  Then, a volunteer would get a large basin full of water, a pitcher to refill along the way and a towel for my dad and a woman volunteer.  The woman would go along and wash the women's feet and my dad would wash the men's.

I remember my dad with that towel strapped around him, kneeling down at each of the men's feet and quoting:

John 13:14-15

If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

This is what Jesus said to his disciples after he washed all their feet.  You can read the full account in John 13.  Jesus was showing them how they should treat one another, but most importantly how none of us should think ourselves better than another or be so high that we can't kneel and wash another's feet.

Some commentators had said that Jesus didn't mean for them to do it but only to bring them to humility in my mind.  I suppose that is so, but my dad chose to do it and God blessed every time!  My dad would cry as he went along and so would everyone else.  I remember crying because of the love in that place as my dad humbled himself to wash the dirty feet of others.  Then, seeing his church members cry also as they realized how much their pastor loved them.  He loved them enough to humble himself and do as the Lord Jesus had done.  It was a special time and one that when I bring it to remembrance, pours the humility and love of the act all over me.

How about instead of criticizing one another, looking down on them because they aren't doing what we are doing, or have done, that we instead - wash their feet?  Just thinking of washing the feet of those you criticize should bring humility in your heart and show you your own pride.  If not, then maybe it is time you brought out the basin and served them.

My dad had a heart for people (and still does) and that is something they will always remember.  I will leave you with Barnes' commentary on this important lesson Jesus taught:

It is the manifest design of Jesus here to inculcate a lesson of humility; to teach them by his example that they ought to condescend to the most humble offices for the benefit of others. They ought not to be proud, and vain, and unwilling to occupy a low place, but to regard themselves as the servants of each other, and as willing to befriend each other in every way. And especially as they were to be founders of the church, and to be greatly honored, he took this occasion of warning them against the dangers of ambition, and of teaching them, by an example that they could not forget, the duty of humility.

I get a lot of requests for posts on marriage and though I don't feel like a marriage expert, I know what love is and entails.  Our marriage has been tested in some of the most extreme forms and it has withstood the storms and temptations to dissolve.  This post is going to help propel women to think on what they love about their husbands.  I find that a lot of time, women that want to leave their husbands or say they 'fell out of love' with him - have forgotten what it is that attracted them in the first place and all that they love about him since they've been married.  May this inspire you to think on the ways you love your man!

I've been married to the most wonderful man on this earth for 14 years now and our love is even stronger than those many years ago when we first began a life together.  We have been through so many things over the years that others may have threw in the towel for but our love stood the test of time.  There are so many things I love about my husband but these are what really fills my mind today:

1. He loves me!  He is so full of love for me and treats me like a queen everyday of my life.  There is no doubt that he loves me and even others have remarked of his deep love for me - he doesn't hide it!  He doesn't want or desire anyone else - I'm still just as hot to him as I was the day he met me and he tells me so all the time!  Everyone he works with knows all about me and our children - he loves us so much!
2. He comforts me.  I've been through a lot of pain and illness in my life and since marrying my husband, he has been such a comfort to me in all I've gone through - past and present.
3. He is my best friend!  We are not only in love but he is also my best friend.  We can share our deepest thoughts, fears and shortcomings and bond and help one another.  
4.  He is a dedicated follower of Christ.  He is so humble and doesn't think highly of himself.  He loves God and is very dedicated to spending time with the Lord.  His very dedication inspires mine.
5. He is a dedicated father and husband!  He spends his free time with us.  He doesn't do social media because he sees how much time it would take away from us and he doesn't want to be involved in other men's matters.  He will stop anything that I feel or my daughter feels is taking away from our relationship - he puts God and his family first!
6. He provides!  My husband is man enough to provide for his own.  He doesn't need to prostitute me out on a job to make the ends meet.  His manhood shows through being the sole provider.  I love that about him!  Man enough to make enough!
7. He has compassion.  He cares for others and gives them the benefit of the doubt most of the time.  He is also advising me to let things go when others have done me wrong.  He truly has a great heart.
8. He's handsome - I would say more here but let's just say he is attractive to me! ;-)
9. He is hilariously funny!  He always keeps me laughing with his wit and humor!
10. He is talented.  He composes music and songs and sings them.  He is intelligent and helps in homeschooling the kids when I don't know something.  He is awarded frequently at his job from his hard work and great customer service.  
11. There isn't anyone that doesn't like him!  My husband has never had an enemy and everyone likes him.  He gets along with everyone because of his easy-going nature, which he got from his parents.
12. He is a steady man.  He isn't impulsive and he is very careful and takes his time with decisions.  He balances me very well!  He never endangers our family by taking risks.  He keeps us debt-free with his wise spending.
13. He is a leader.  He doesn't think he is much of one but I know he is!  I couldn't be what I am today without God and my husband - he has helped make me a better person.  He instructs his children in the right ways and doesn't allow them to do, read or watch inappropriate things.  He leads and safeguards his family.

Think of all the ways you love your husband today!  Keep the fires going and always stay newlyweds in affections.

Purging sounds so much more accomplished than decluttering, don't you think?  Not only has God been purging things in my life and even those around me but I've also been purging physical things in my home.  I held on to a lot of things but realized that maybe I'm holding on to some of them because I'm afraid of poverty.  I hadn't voiced this to anyone but God knew and it was recently shared by my pastor in a bible study - the fear of poverty.  I was thinking - wow, I hadn't even shared that and yet, God let the man of God know that someone needed to hear it!

Fear of poverty can cause you to hoard things or hold on to things.  In my case it was thinking that I wouldn't have the money to replace the items later on when I would need them.  For example, I was saving my daughter's old clothes from all the way back to when she was a toddler up until recently.  I was saving the clothes for our next baby, but we got a boy - so, I realized that if I saved for the next baby, those clothes would be there a long time before she would even be able to wear them.  However, when I decided to get rid of them and even sold a few, I started closing up and became scared to let them go.  I was scared I wouldn't be able to find such nice things again and scared that I wouldn't have the money to buy my next child clothes.

I finally was able to let go of the sentimental value of them but I still held on to the fear of poverty.  Not only did God reassure me in the recent study that I shouldn't fear that - He also showed me that fear of poverty was actually unbelief.  Unbelief is something that is not given much attention in the Christian world today.  Yet, it has the same ability to send you to hell as does murdering someone.

Revelation 21:8

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

God has taken care of us when we barely had any money and in our time of plenty.  Not only did God always provide our every need, He also fulfilled some of our wants!  Satan wants us to think that if we let go of something there will be a time we will regret it and we will be without.  If you let go of those clothes, your child will be naked and without he says.  That isn't faith talk - that is faithLESS talk!  That is fear-based future planning and not something that we should heed.

You could even have everything set for your future all nice and in pretty little rows, figuratively speaking - but things could come and take that all away in a moment.  That is why we are commanded not to trust in riches (abundance of external possessions) because they are not certain - only God is!!

It is one thing to have a storehouse and be wise, but it is another to hoard because we fear the future.  God can take care of us, we don't need to be ruled by fear of our future.  If we are in God's will, we can rest in that and know that He will meet all of our needs!

God has really been dealing with my heart about a lot of things recently.  Namely - holiness.  God keeps drawing me to be more, to rid my life of things and to be more steadfast in what He has already led our family to be.

I was reading a book by Hugh Pyle called, Stick to Your Standards and it was even more the same message that God had already been dealing with me about.  There are some things that I've let in to my life and our home that God isn't pleased with.  Sure, I could justify them all day long - but I know deep inside that God has said NO!

Today, I finally let go of the fight and told God that I would let them go.  I didn't experience a life growing up watching a family compromise in many ways that only destroyed the holiness it once had - to do so myself.  I went through it so I would know what it looks like and to raise up a generation that was more concerned about God and holiness.

God needs men, women, and children to lift up the standard in this darkened world.  We are already infiltrated with the doctrines of men that proclaim that sin isn't so bad anymore and that you don't need to be holy.  We don't need to find ways to let more of the world in our homes, we need to find ways to keep more of it out!

I like the quote that was shared in the book I mentioned:

When all of God's sheep become dirty gray, the black sheep feel more comfortable. - Vance Havner

There are absolutes of right and wrong.  There is black and white.  Anything that falls into the gray areas must be carefully and prayerfully considered.  As many have said in times past, I would rather go too far than not far enough and miss the mark.  Thank God that He has standards and that we, by the Holy Spirit, can be directed in our ways and our lives.

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ..... Phil. 1:27

I haven't done one of these posts in a long time, here is the last time I did before my son was born and my life looks a lot different than that now!  

10:00 a.m. - Wake up; Make breakfast

10:30 a.m. - Breakfast

11:00 a.m. - Homeschool starts - Bible, writing, grammar

12:00 p.m. - Snack for my son & Recess; P.E.

1:00 p.m. - Lunch

1:45 p.m. - Pick up time

2:00 p.m. - Son's nap for 3 hours and this is when we homeschool spelling, history or science, math and reading

3:10 p.m. - My part in homeschool is done, daughter works independently until dinner; This begins my time to do whatever is on my to-do list for the day

3:30 p.m. - Snack

4:30 - 5:00 p.m. - Start dinner prep

5:00 p.m. - Son wakes up from nap

5:30 p.m. - Dinner

6:00 p.m. - Kitchen clean up

7:00 - 9:00 p.m. - Evening activities (different each night)

9:00 p.m. - Son's bedtime cereal and milk; we usually eat a snack

9:30 p.m. - Son's bedtime

Family Freetime

11:00 p.m. - Daughter's bedtime

1:00 - 2:00 a.m. - Bedtime for me

Homeschool time is 11-12 in the morning and then from 2-5 in the afternoon.  My daughter also has evening reading that she works in sometime before bed.  Total homeschooling for the summer is about 4 hours.  Once we get to fall, we will not have such a large break from 12 - 2 - that will be the time my daughter does Latin, Spanish and Logic (new subjects she will start in 5th grade), putting her at 6 hours of schooling.  My time spent homeschooling goes from about 2 hours down to less than one in the new school year!

Sometimes I wake up before my kids and I try to be as quiet as possible, doing something like reading the news on my Kindle.  However I've learned, whenever I get up, my son always seems to hear and gets up and doesn't get enough sleep and then he will be cranky all day - so I've tweaked my own schedule to try and sleep till he wakes up.  I would like to get back to going to sleep by midnight and waking at 8, but that would mean putting my son to bed at 8 and that won't work for our family.

My son gets 12 hours of sleep at night, my 10-year old daughter gets 10 hours and I try and get at least 8 hours.  All of these are for good health and the recommended times for the age/stage.  I recently watched a documentary study on obesity and there is substantial evidence that babies and toddlers that do not get AT LEAST 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night, are at risk for obesity, diabetes and heart disease later on in life.  I was surprised by this but I knew that 12 hours was good as my daughter slept for 12 hours until she was around age 5 and now sleeps 10 hours.  Sleep really does make a difference in children's behaviors and ours!

No matter what we face.  No matter how we feel.  No matter how terrible the storm is.  Love wins every time!  There is just something about love that can break down every barrier, every lie, every storm and obstacle that comes to our lives.  When love comes on the scene, we can think clearly again.  I remember a man that would always talk about seeing others through rose-colored glasses and that has come to my mind so many times throughout the years.  When we look at people through a lens of love, we can't harbor any ill feelings toward them.  We can't hate them or despise them because love won't allow it.

Our perception can be blurred when we lose sight of love; when the cares of this life take over and distractions come to prevent us from seeing the truth.  Satan is the mastermind of distraction.  He is the most skilled weaver of all the webs that entangle us in his lies.  His number one objective is to stop us from looking through those love lenses - he wants to blur your vision with deception.

Though Satan may accomplish so much of these in our lives and cause confusion and battles - he can't stand up to love!  If we could only grasp the true power of love - that is that God Himself is love and that it was He who showed us that love on the cross as he cried out:

Luke 23:34

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

Oh the love that Christ showed to those who would have him killed!  He saw past their deeds and saw that they were just puppets for Satan - He had love for them that they could be forgiven despite what they had allowed Satan to use them for.  Just the fact that Christ died on that cross for the entire world is the key to this - LOVE is our strongest weapon in fighting Satan.  Intellect and logic won't win every battle - but love wins every time!

If we all practiced using this weapon, we would be able to subdue the enemy in our lives and with each other.  It is time to slip on those glasses and look at people in a new light, a light of love!

I remember back when we started to get all our medical bills and how I spoke defeat.  I spoke it to a friend, I spoke it to my parents and my own family.  A day or two later, I was very convicted and thought of the following verse came to my mind:

Luke 18:8

"...when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"

I want God to find faith in me!  So, I called my parents and my friend back and apologized to them for my faithless talk.  I told my husband and daughter that I was sorry for the doom and gloom I forecasted and then I said that we are going to speak FAITH over these medical bills.

And that is when God started moving.  In just a few weeks, the faith spoke down $8,000.  But it didn't stop there, I started speaking faith in other parts of my life and it wasn't long before Satan got upset!  See, Satan doesn't like it when Christians start claiming their promises.  He doesn't like it when we start speaking faith and believing and conquering mountains.  He will bring all the forces of hell out against you when you do this and try and knock you back down into a pit of despair but I can tell you that anything worth having in God is worth fighting for!!

I prayed a prayer specifically a few weeks ago and didn't voice it to anyone.  My prayer was that God would bring money to our door.  I thought I would open the door one day and money would be sitting there.  I spoke faith.

Monday, God kept dealing with heart to do something for someone.  I mean it wouldn't leave me alone!  I kept saying to myself I was too busy but finally at 8pm at night, I realized it was God........and I did what he said to do!!  I didn't think much of it but I knew it was God's leading.

Late Monday night I had been dealt a blow that kept me awake and feeling like God wasn't even there.  I thought maybe I wasn't even His child because I mess up so many times saying and doing the wrong things and causing problems to people I care about.  I thought I should just give up entirely and I asked God to show me that I was still His child and that our family was worth something to God.  Satan made me feel absolutely useless to everyone around me and that our family was just something to laugh at - I mean what were we doing for God?  Nothing.

I got a knock on the door yesterday and someone left us a card.  I opened the card up and there was a large amount of cash and immediately I knew God had brought it to our door!! Literally brought the money that I had prayed for!!  The card was a thank you to our family from someone we barely even knew but had been watching our lives as neighbors who don't even go to church.  They said that people like us are rare these days and they are so thankful we are in this world and they just wanted to give us some money to show their gratitude.  They went on to say how great our family was........Oh God, how sorry I was to believe the devil's lies that our family was nothing, that I'm only a person that causes problems and we are useless to anyone.  I realized that there are souls living around us that have watched our lives and they SEE our walk with God, even when you think no one is looking, no one notices.........God sends a reminder that though you may not be doing great things that people recognize you for, though you may not have anything before your name - you are still doing something for God by just living a Christian life.  You are the light in your neighborhood, you are the light in your home and you can shine bright to a lost, dark and lonely world and they can see God everyday by looking at your life.

So for all those that say how hard life is, how you don't have money to buy food or pay bills - stop speaking defeat and despair and start speaking FAITH!! God is a responder and He has told us in His Word to PROVE Him - give God His and prove Him if He won't keep His promises. 

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.

My dad was a hard-working man, a pastor of a church for 26 years and full of compassion for people.  He would work long hours, getting up before the sun and working as a general foreman of an electrical company for 10 hours everyday of the week.  He would then come home and sometimes make dinner (because my mom worked too) and then continue to work through the evening.  He tended to a football field sized garden in the evenings, mowed and did whatever else needed to be done until dusk.  Then, he would retire to his chair and fall asleep.  He also pastored a church of 120 people for 26 years and raised 3 children, which included me.

Some say that you can't pastor a church and have a family and work and grow a garden - but someone forgot to tell my dad that because he did it ALL!  I admire him for that.  I admire the fact that my dad was one of the hardest working men that I've ever known, who did what he had to do to put food on the table.  He could have came home and rested every evening but instead, he worked 13 hour days on average but always resting on Sunday - although he preached twice every Sunday.  He would get on top of his lunchbox at lunch time at the job site and preach, and no one dared told him it wasn't ok because he was the boss!  Many men rather wept and would kneel down to pray and even years later, they remember my dad and his stand for God.

He answered calls in the middle of the night from church members and went to be with many by their side to pray on them in the hospital.  He gave money to help people pay their bills and he gave a large portion of our money to the church that he loved and built from our living room.  He preached funerals and weddings and went through many hurts from friends who turned out to be enemies.  I remember those nights when I would hear my dad praying and crying from the barn up the hill by the garden.  He didn't know but I was listening and crying too.  I saw how my dad handled the hard times - prayer.  There were times we would be sick as children and I remember many times my parents laying hands on us and praying for healing and we were immediately healed.  One time I had a mercury thermometer in my mouth and it was extremely high.  My parents had no health insurance so they relied on God - while they were praying the red mercury ball went down to a normal temperature!  God healed me on the spot and it would forever show me that the prayer of faith can heal.

My dad never went to a bible college or learned how to pioneer a church, yet somehow he was successful in learning as he went.  The first night he started his church in our living room, there were 60 people in attendance.  It wasn't before long that they were able to rent a basement and then years later, they were able to buy it and build a top to it, then a fellowship hall.  My dad sacrificed for that church and the souls all because he wanted to do God's will.  He wasn't ashamed to preach against sin and run around the outside of the church and back in again still preaching!  He was always known for his firey preaching.

When I think of my dad, I think of a man that was able to do it all - a man that was a real man.  One that put God first, family second and still had time to work with hands providing our food and also to give to others.  He was never ashamed to cry when it was called for because he had such a love for people and us that he couldn't keep his care inside.  He had a license plate for years on his truck and it is something that I still remember today:

Remember how I told you how God worked miracles about our medical bills here?  Well, He is still moving those mountains!  In the past 2 weeks, unbelievable things have happened with our medical bills.  I called to pay a bill and found out that it was billed wrong and we only owed $47!  I called to pay on another bill and the lady didn't even know how it happened but the balance was only $35.90!  I told her we owed more than that but she said someone came in there and wrote the rest off.  !!!!!!  Then, we found out on another bill, they will probably be removing $720 of it!

Our bills went from $10K to $8K down to $5K.......after the past 2 weeks, we only owe.....a little over $2K!  Ok, well if you all don't shout, I will!! I know how God can take care of medical bills, He can do anything!!

There is no mountain too big that God can't move - even medical bills.  You don't need the government to bail you out - God owns it all anyway!  Depend on Him and you can't go wrong!

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.

Now some of you may be saying that my title is not possible but actually it is - it is actual fact!  I've gained a lot weight four times in my life that put in the obese category and neither weight gain was caused by overeating or moving less.  It was caused by medications.

Medications can cause weight gain that is extremely difficult to remove!

In 2001, I was a healthy and fit size 4 and in the Air Force.  I then went through an extremely stressful time in the workplace and I got shingles around my side and back for 3 months.  It was on of the most painful things I've ever had!  I had to be on prednisone for those 3 months just to be able to come to work.  I gained a whopping 50 pounds in 3 months on prednisone without overeating.

I then worked very hard exercising and cutting my calories down to very low levels and the weight came off and I returned down to a small size again.  My infertility also disappeared and I was able to get pregnant.

During my pregnancy in 2003, I was on a lot of various medications that the side effect was weight gain.  I gained almost 60 pounds during that pregnancy.  I again, had to work very hard exercising up to 2 hours a day and eating a low calorie diet to lose the weight but I once again returned to my smaller, former size but this time with more muscle.

In 2005 after losing the weight from my pregnancy, I was very sick with liver disease that was also enlarged.  I also had many neurological problems.  I was put on a lot of medicaitons and I had reactions to a lot of them.  Once again, I gained on the medications and my weight reached the overweight category and stopped once I went off the medications.  I then worked to lose the weight again and almost had lost it all when in 2007, I ended up in the hospital for a few weeks and you can guess what happened next........

In 2007 during my hospitalization and their experimentation with many drugs, I had severe allergic reactions but they couldn't find anything I wasn't allergic to, so they sent me home with one that had minimal reactions but made me so sick.  I gained 10 pounds in one week and from then on, I went on to balloon up to the obese category.  Again, my weight gain STOPPED as soon as I went off the medications but now I was obese.

I tried to lose that weight but it was very difficult to do so, either age or constant illness deterred me.  I got pregnant in 2012 and again was on medications but none that caused weight gain, so I didn't gain much during my pregnancy with son and upon having him, lost all of the weight I gained during pregnancy by the 3rd week!

However, I was left with the weight I had before having him - which was caused by the medications in 2007 and here I am today.  I've maintained easily and even lost 13 pounds by eating 800 calories when I had to during my gallbladder illness until they removed it.  In my life when not on medications, I maintain my weight easily, which I would have always had I not been on medications.

I found out that fat cells that are stored because of medication are actually different in their composition from fat cells from just overeating.  It is a lot harder to lose the fat cells from medication than normal fat cells!  Also, when you lose fat cells that were caused by medication weight gain, you will get very sick from all the toxins that were stored in those cells!  As you burn the fat, you release the toxins, which is why a lot of people can get ill after losing weight.  That is why it is so important to lose weight slowly if you gained it from medications.  Also take milk thistle daily while losing the fat, to help the liver detoxify all that will be released.

I shared all this with you all so that you will not judge someone who is overweight or obese!  You will understand that some didn't get that way but stuffing their face and they aren't gluttons!  They also have to work harder to lose the weight and they will get sick along the way.  I'm really tired of hearing people pass judgements (even Christians) on others telling them that they must have overeaten to get so fat - well, thanks Job's friend but you are wrong!  Rather, we should have compassion on those that are obese and not assume things, we don't honestly know HOW they got that way do we?  Think about that the next time you pass assumed judgements in your mind about someone - you may just be entertaining lies in your mind.

*Just a note, I'm only 189 pounds and size 14, but I do still classify as being obese according to my doctor for my height.  I don't "look" obese because I have a lot of muscle which makes me look smaller, but still called obese because I'm not at an ideal weight for my height.  I said this lest you all think I was like 400 pounds - I'm not, but even if someone was, maybe they have been on medications for years and they really couldn't help it.  Think about that a while.

I've been homeschooling my daughter from preschool through to 4th grade and as we finish up the grammar stage of classical education, I can tell that you I've learned a LOT and wanted to share.  Maybe you are just beginning homeschooling or have a year or so under your belt, here is what I would tell you:

1. God should always be FIRST!  - your homeschool won't work to the glory of God if you get caught up in academics and exclude Him.  Reading the Bible daily for you and your children is far more important than anything else they will learn.  If you find yourself having trouble homeschooling, look and see the place that you put God in - if He isn't first, then you need to reorganize!
2. Reading is the most important - Teach your child to read and read well EARLY on!  My daughter was reading fluently at a 4th grade level in 1st grade following The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  If you don't get them reading on their own, you will find you will be doing a lot of teaching and get burnt out and quit.  Most children should be reading at LEAST 1 1/2 hours a day - it doesn't just stop with phonics, your child has to read books a lot to master it.  You will also find that their English, writing and spelling improves the more they read.  I find a lot of people that have problems homeschooling, haven't taught their child to read on their own - or if they have, they didn't make their child read books everyday - you are shooting yourself in the foot here.....get them to READ!!
3. After Bible and reading, math is next - If you can just teach 3 things, teach these.  Even if you don't get around to grammar, writing or spelling - it will be taken care of in reading.  Math is so important and one subject you should never get behind in.  Definitely don't take more than 2 weeks off from math because concepts will be lost in the early grades.  
4. Child should be independent by 3rd grade - if you do the above 3 and are following the classical method, most children should be able to do most of their schoolwork independently.  There may still be a few things you have to teach, like writing (which only takes 10 minutes) but for the most part, you shouldn't be doing much at all.  How so?  Well, you got your child to read on their own!  You also spent 1st and 2nd grade doing narration, which means they learned how to read to understand (comprehension).  If you have problems by this grade, check to make sure God is first and your child can read on their own and does read books from 1-2 hours every day.  Even with slower children, by 4th grade if you don't see independence in most subjects - examine what is going on.
5. Classical Education is superior - I've looked at a lot of different methods, compared with my public and private school education as well and come to the conclusion that classical education is far superior to any other.  Why?  Well, it teaches to the mind of the child.  In the grammar stages, your child is a sponge soaking up everything.  In the logic stages, they start to ask why and to find out the answers - in other words, they learn to THINK!  By the rhetoric stage, they take all the information they've absorbed and the thinking skills are able to defend their viewpoints and back up their beliefs.  They don't teach this in other methods and they sure don't teach it in public schools!
6. Include secular beliefs and books - Don't be a Christian hermit and shelter your child from anything that doesn't have a scripture in it or reference to God.  Your children need to know what evolution is and why it is wrong!  They need to see both sides, so that they will not be tricked later on in life.  They should learn mythology, so they can understand references to it in history and the great books.  They need to understand the world with a Christian worldview - not just live in a sheltered educational box for they will not be truly educated to reach the world.
7. Relax!!!!  - I just learned this a few years ago but I see so many others not relaxing and being burdened down by Satan's lies about homeschooling.  It isn't hard!  They just need to learn to read, write and do math and everything else is gathered really from reading!  You can go through and never do one experiment or project and learn what you need to know by just reading a book on it.  RELAX!!  There are only 4 parts of science and they repeat it every 4 years - so if you miss something the first go round, relax!  Same with history.  Don't sweat the small stuff, they will eventually get it - trust me!
8. Love Teaching Your Child - if you don't do everything as unto God, you will hate homeschooling and your child will pick that up!  Don't let Satan have an advantage in your home - do homeschooling as you are doing it for the Lord.  Your bad attitudes will be absorbed by your child and they will lose confidence in themselves.  Change your attitude and amazingly - everything starts working again!  Praise your children more than you point out their mistakes!!
9. Pray constantly about your homeschool - whenever you have a problem in homeschooling - stop and pray!  If your child is struggling with something - have them stop and pray!  Prayer changes things!  You either have faith when you pray or you don't.  If you don't pray for your homeschool before you begin each day, don't be surprised if you have a hard time.  You have not because you didn't ask!

We have an option - we can either change for the better or we can change for the worse.  We can even let others change us as we conform to their ideals or we can let God change us as we conform to His Holy Word.  Ask yourself the question, "How have I changed, is it for the better or worse?  Have my changes come about by following a person, a woman or a man to the point that I'm just a reproductive copy of their opinions OR have my changes rather come from God through allowing my trials to make me better?"

Notice that Jesus Himself displays this change that should take place in our lives within - although He was without sin and entirely perfect, He still displays what our will should be as well:

Hebrews 5:7-8

Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

A lot of times our obedience can come about because of the things that we have suffered have moved us to a change within that inspires a true faithfulness to a Great God.  Suffering has a way of changing people - again, either for the better or the worse.  There are those who have lost limbs that sit around asking why and are bitter against everyone.  Then, there are those that have lost limbs that rather go on to bring about a positive message in the midst of their suffering.  We all have a CHOICE in how we will allow things to change us.

Henry's Commentary

Here he has left us an example, that we should learn by all our afflictions a humble obedience to the will of God. We need affliction, to teach us submission.

Quotes

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” - Viktor E. Frankl

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle.” - Frederick Douglass

The late Gordon Sears, who had an evangelistic music ministry for many years and ministered with Rudy Atwood, was saddened before his death by the dramatic change that was occurring in many fundamental Baptist churches. He warned: “When the standard of music is lowered, then the standard of dress is also lowered. When the standard of dress is lowered, then the standard of conduct is also lowered. When the standard of conduct is lowered, then the sense of value in God’s truth is lowered.”

Frank Garlock of Majesty Music warns, “If a church starts using CCM it will eventually lose all other standards” (Garlock, Bob Jones University Chapel, March 12, 2001).

The late fundamentalist leader Ernest Pickering gave a similar warning: “Perhaps nothing precipitates a slide toward New Evangelicalism more than the introduction of Contemporary Christian Music. This inevitably leads toward a gradual slide in other areas as well until the entire church is infiltrated by ideas and programs alien to the original position of the church.”

The pastors who follow the contemporary church growth principles claim that they are not changing doctrine, only style. That is simply not true. Many of the so-called “style” changes are doctrinal. To allow church members to dress immodestly like the world without any reproof or correction is a doctrinal issue. To borrow the music that the world uses for sexual pleasure and to incorporate that very music into the church program is a doctrinal issue. To claim that music is neutral is a doctrinal issue. To yoke ecumenically with charismatics and such is a doctrinal issue. To say that preaching should focus on the positive is a doctrinal issue. To take Matthew 7:1 and Romans 14:4 out of context to approve a non-judgmental, doctrinally non-controversial approach to the Christian ministry is a doctrinal issue. To use community surveys for planning church policy is a doctrinal issue. To adopt a New Evangelical philosophy is a doctrinal issue.

When a church changes its “style” in these areas, it is undergoing a radical doctrinal change; and continual boasting to the contrary is mere noise without meaning and only deceives the willfully blind.

- From Way of Life

All it takes is a little leaven to leaven the whole lump (1 Cor 5:6). When the holy is mixed with the unholy the holy is defiled and we do well to remember that God utterly hates mixture (Hag 2:12; Rom 12:2; James 4:4; 1 Jn 2:15).

“Never had the Church so much influence over the world as when she had nothing to do with the world!” ―L.E. Maxwell

“Any spirit that permits compromise with the world is a false spirit. Any religious movement that imitates the world in any of its manifestations is false to the cross of Christ and on the side of the devil.” ―A.W. Tozer

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” ―1 John 4:1

Questioning Music

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” ―1 Thessalonians 5:21

Does God accept all music as worship? Are all musical styles accepted by God? How are we to distinguish between true and false “Christian” music today? Is it really just a matter of preference?

In light of these questions and others I propose the following guidelines in order to correctly judge music. For those who assume the manner of worship means little, remember that Nadab and Abihu were consumed by God’s fire for offering unfit worship (Lev 10:1-2).

1) Is the music in question an attempt to appeal to the world and/or emulate the world in order to gain acceptance with the world (Rom 12:2)?
2) Does the music in question contain sound doctrine, promote true holiness, confront sin/error and declare a clear witness of Jesus Christ (Col 3:16)?
3) Concerning the lives of the musicians: are they men of integrity and sound witness? Are they under spiritual authority? Are they living in victory over sin (1 Thess 5:12)?
4) Does the music promote an attitude or cultivate any rebellion (1 Cor 15:33)?

If “yes” could be answered to question 1 or 4, it is not fit to be used. If “no” could be answered to 2 or 3, it is not fit to be used.

- From Open Air Holiness Ministries

We have lived our lives the past 5 years with the Biblical principles of being good stewards of the money that God has given us.  We pay our tithes, give in offerings and live as a lender, not a borrower (also known as debt-free; Proverbs 22:7).  Medical bills seem to be something that you just can't escape these days but as most turn to the government to pay their bills, we felt like God wanted us to pay what we owed.  I'm not saying it is wrong to take Medicaid, but I am saying that unless you are disabled or truly unable to pay for your own medical care, you shouldn't take others' money to pay your bills.  I know there are many that do this and they buy iPhones, new cars every few years and new clothes every month - they are stealing from others so they can have money to pay for their greed.  That shouldn't be named even once among Christians right?

We had almost completely paid off our medical bills from my c-section, when my son's health and mine racked up $53,846 in medical bills the past 4 months.  Sure we had insurance but it seemed like hope was gone as the costs to us was going to be past $10K.  I called my pastor and asked him for advice and to pray.  The talk came up about the possibility of having to put these bills on a credit card that was interest-free for 15 months.  However, we don't want to touch credit cards ever again.  The insurance company said that no one pre-certified my hospital stay and that under the new laws, it meant that my hospital stay would not be covered.  We were going to be responsible for $30-$40K!  It seemed like a hopeless situation.........but then God moved!

I started speaking faith instead of doom and gloom.  I started claiming our blessing.  I told God that I didn't want to turn to a credit card because He owned it all and could help us.  Things started working out.  Payment plans became available.  And the biggest one of all - the hospital decided to bill my 3-day hospital stay as an OUTPATIENT bill and that didn't need to be pre-certified and we only owe $400!  Yes, $400 not $40,000!!  All together, we only owe less than $5,000 out of $53,846 - God is a provider friends!

I'm sharing this to show you that if you remain faithful to God - He will always provide!  He can't lie:

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.

It is all over the news, so you have probably heard about how so many parents are upset about the Common Core math homework.  For one, it is stupid and doesn't make sense and the wrong answer is the right answer in some cases.  However, I'm not here to bash it - we all know Common Core is faulty.  I'm here to say something to the parents who are complaining:

If you won't teach your own children at home, then don't whine when you send them to total strangers and get a taxpayer-paid education for your children!  I mean seriously - if you don't like it, do what a friend of mine is doing and pull your child out and teach them yourself!!  If you don't trust the people you leave your child with 8 hours a day - then, don't you think it is time to stop taking the stupid pills?  The blame only lies on the parent(s) as you are the one ultimately responsible before God for the "way" you let your children be taught.

Also, though this isn't related to Common Core - so many parents talk about how their child can't read, they can't do this or that and they let them continue to go on through each grade like this.  What I want to know is this.........why can't you, as a parent, teach your child these things?  I mean, you could even do it AFTER school - there are many parents who "after-school" just Google it!  There is no excuse for a child being left behind in education, there is only the parents to blame in the end.  

This isn't the popular thing to say but it is truth and we all know how well truth is accepted these days.  However, think about it for a while and let it really sink in and you will see what so many others see - God holds the parent responsible.  I said, God holds the parent responsible - not the teacher, preacher or nanny - YOU!

I've noticed that at the doctor's office and many other places that I've been to recently, seems like everyone is on their phone, usually a smartphone.  I'm longing to talk to others and meet new people but everyone else is shutting the world out.  The thing is, they are probably on "social" media but at the same time, they are so disconnected from REAL face-to-face conversation and the chance to meet someone new.  It really disgusts me, maybe because I'm not into the whole smartphone thing - I got rid of mine before it got too smart.

What I really enjoy is meeting people at the grocery store or shopping when they aren't on their phones.  Some think I'm weird for talking to them, others are refreshed that someone wants to talk to them.

The saddest part of all this is that so many are letting their friends just slip away.  I've had friends just let me go because I wasn't on Facebook and that is where they have chosen to have their "life."  Since I'm not on there, I'm not in their "life" anymore.  Sad.  God help us.  It is all part of Satan's plan to prevent us from having real, loving relationships and to promote the superficial ones and the fake person we share online in social media - the one we want others to think we are.  The one that makes us feel good about ourselves, boosts our ego and self esteem - the one that is destroying us because it is making us full of SELF.  Taking SELFies and posting pictures of our SELF all. the. time.  Self-glorification is now the norm.

Get off your stupid phones and get a real life!!!!!  Ok, there, I said it.  Don't let life pass you by and friends pass you by, forget your SELF and think about others - don't let Satan distract you all the way to hell.  

Mercy is the one word that I feel that has been showered upon me the past few weeks.  I think of how now, looking back, I can see God's wonderful plan and all-knowing understanding.  In the midst of it I couldn't see it, I rather saw judgement and the question of "why" would reign through my mind.  However, as the storm passes - we are able to see clearer and such was the case in this time in my life.

Just knowing that God purposed to save my life, let me know that He isn't finished with me yet.  He could have let me die, yet He chose rather to work things together to let me live.  In the back of my mind I've had an unsettling fear that God wasn't pleased with me for some past mistakes I made.  Every time things came up with my health, I felt the impending "judgment" of God upon me and assumed I was being punished.  It is just something that I've battled with in my mind for many years but I'm here to let the devil know that God wiped away all of that this past few weeks.  He has torn down the halls of this doomful prison that Satan would whoop me with and He has shown me His incredible mercy and love.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately on how many years ago I let someone influence me to be a certain way that took away my sweet, loving and merciful spirit.  I've worked for the past few years erasing all of their influence in my life and cultivating what once was and bringing it back to life again.  I've found that you can be so greatly influenced by someone that you will forget yourself and then you wake up one day and realize that you are ugly inside.  Then and only then, does the truth stare back at you and you have a choice to make - be bitter or be better!

I've grown to be a very merciful person and my compassion for people has grown so intensely that my heart yearns for anyone in need, sick or hurt or in a sad situation.  I want to do more for others than just feel for them - I want to be God's hands and feet and mouth to help them.  I've always been this way but for a few years I let an evil influence drown out my mercy and love in the name of being right.

James 2:13

For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Clarke commentary says:

A merciful man rejoices rather in opportunities of showing mercy, than in acting according to strict justice.

My joy is in being able to give others mercy when they have wronged me, I don't rather wish they would be punished.  I remember forgiving a lady that spread rumors and gossip about me in my church.  She was very smug as I asked her to forgive me for offending her.  However, 8 months later, she told me that I was bigger than she was to say I was sorry and that I had nothing to be sorry for, she had been wrong and she apologized to me.  She eventually left my church because others were not so merciful to her for what she had done and other things she had done.  I'm not rejoicing she is in sin now but some people seem to feel an unrighteous praise that she got what was coming to her.  They have the wrong spirit and in due time, they too will be returned for their unmerciful ways.

Take note of this my friends - as Pastor Olson has said so many times, stay sweet in your soul!

I've been decluttering and simplifying a lot of things in my life lately - everything from deleting some blogs I had, to things around the home.  One of the things that bother me is our paper situation.  We have papers all over the house in different places and storage bins.  There is a small cabinet here and then a a file box there and then a pile here and on and on.  I decided that it was worth the money to buy a large filing cabinet to condense everything down into ONE location.

This will eliminate a lot of other filing areas and thus open up more space in those areas and add more things to our increasing yard sale pile we got going on for this summer.  I found the size, color and style of the filing cabinet I wanted at Office Max, it was the cheapest price as shipping was free (and it arrived fast) and it came with a FREE utility tote bag that I just love!  I also ordered 100 colorful hanging file folders because I love my color!

The picture got cut off, but this is a 4-drawer filing cabinet.





The file cabinet fits like it was made to go between the bookshelf and the kitchen counter and now I wonder how did I go this long without one of these?  I can't wait to organize it and do all my files, it is definitely a project that will take a while but it is another step toward simplifying my life a little bit more.

You may remember how I said in my pantry organization video that I wanted to get a container for my medicine.  It has been in a cardboard popcorn box for years and I always forget about it until I need medicine and realize that I still haven't replaced it.  The cardboard box was ok, but it was hideous to look at and the medicine got a coating of dust.  I found some storage containers that I liked and they met several of my wants - big enough, easy to open and close and visually attractive.  I love it!


I bought more of these to consolidate a lot of clutter that was left on the laundry room shelf.  One for batteries, one for the tools and miscellaneous bits and pieces (some people have a junk drawer but we have a junk box) and the other for cleaning odds and ends (swiffer refills, lint cleaners, etc.).  I like the black and white zigzag design and they were cheap!


See that empty shelf?  That is going to be the home of our mail system that I'm going to try out.  We have a horrible time with incoming mail but I'm going to try out a system with shelves for each category and hopefully I can blog on that when I get it.  My husband likes to keep his shoes here rather than in the bedroom, so I got rid of an old shelf that was falling apart and used the bottom 2 shelves of this bookcase for shoes.  (I threw out 2 bags of stuff by the way!!)  I keep my 2 pairs of flats and then flip flops that I use to go check the mail, take out trash, etc. along with my daughter's flip flops for that purpose as well.  The top shelf is our towels and bedding.

I also redid my pantry since the last time I did so was in September.  We did our bi-yearly order with Azure Standard and I had to reorganize things to get it all to fit.  I bought some plastic food-safe jugs to store - mini chocolate chips, cornmeal and Cheerios and then I had an older container that was empty, so I filled it with popcorn.  You can see my medicine box on the top shelf, it looks so much better than that old cardboard box I had for years, love it!!

This post is referencing my miscarriage, which you can read about here:  http://www.christianhomekeeping.com/2014/03/4th-baby-awaiting-us-in-heaven.html

I had cried some last night at the hospital and then on the way home but it wasn't until I was trying to fall asleep that Satan attacked my mind.  The words came to my mind so forceful, "Your cursed, look at all that God has let happen to you in your life" and then came a flood of other things and the pain of all my past traumas poured on me like heavy weights.  I started screaming and crying and tried to hold it in so I wouldn't wake my children but I couldn't.  The pain was so strong, the thoughts that God hates me filled me and I cried so hard.

My husband kept trying to comfort me as he was half asleep but as my crying and screaming got louder, he started waking up and holding me.  I couldn't even get the words out but just saying help me.  Finally, I was able to ask my husband if God loves me.  He began to talk about how so many said that I would be unable to bear children and how God opened my womb and gave me my daughter and then again after years of not being able to conceive and being told that I probably wouldn't be able to have more children - God did it again and gave me my son.

Hearing reminders of God's miracles squashed all of the lies of the devil in a moment.  I was able to calm down and just lay there thinking on my daughter and son - 2 miracles in the next rooms sent from God Himself and now serving as a reminder of His love.  Not only that but God brought me to the truth at 19 years old by taking me all the way to Alaska and then He gave me a Godly husband and a happy home.  He delivered me out of sin, cleansed me and washed me in His blood and gave me a new life.  He could have left me in the world in sin like I was with alcohol drowning out my past abuses but God didn't!  He loved me so much, he saved me and took the alcoholism away and healed my past.  Satan knows that we are blood-bought, we are redeemed, we have something that he can never have and he hates us - it isn't God that hates us, it is Satan that hates us!

When Satan lies to you - remember.  Remember all that God has done and let it drown out all the hurt, sorrow, pain and lies that Satan tries to tell you.  Then, you will have victory and peace!  Remember that this isn't the end, we will see loved ones again in heaven, there is a reunion awaiting us!