Loving Your Husband Friday- Selflessness

It's Friday...and that means time to focus on our marriage, and things that we love about our husbands.

This last week, Rob decided that we should go on a trip to Michigan's Adventure ( an amusement/water park) in Muskegon. It is something that I had requested to do. Since we can't go on a regular vacation this year, I was hoping for just one day of fun. So we went and took the five oldest kids. One reason I wanted to go to the amusement park was because the last two or three trips that we have made to an amusement park...I have been pregnant. It is no fun to go to an amusement park when you are pregnant. It's hot, you are miserable, and you can't ride anything! But, I've gone and watched Rob and the kids have fun (which I do enjoy). So, Rob informed me on the way to Muskegon, as we were kind of planning out who would ride what when, that this trip was for me, and he wanted me to be able to fit in all of my rides, even if it meant he didn't get to ride anything. Now, this is a big deal, because Rob is a bigtime rolller coaster enthusiast. He stuck to it the whole time we were there. He did get a chance to ride his favorite coaster, but for the most part, he stuck with Elias, while I rode rides with the other kids. Once again....thinking of me above himself! I so greatly appreciated that, knowing that likely the next time we get to an amusement park...I may very well be pregnant again!

Be sure to link up with Shannon, for more Loving Your Husbands Fridays.

At the Well- Family Vision

Good morning all. Today the ladies At the Well are discussing having a Family Vision. I'm not going to have time today to share with you all, our family visions because we are leaving for a fun family trip this morning. However, I plan to share what we have written down for our family visions in a later post! I also want you all to think about the importance of having a vision and goals for your family! Please click on the At the Well link above, and check out what they have to say about it this morning, because they have already taken the words out of my mouth about it. It is so important!

Although I don't have our general family vision handy to include right now, here is an example from my homeschool blog of our family homeschool mission page. This is just an idea of what it means for our family to set goals based on scripture. Click here to see this. I hope you all have a blessed day, and begin to think about how you can put to paper what you want to see happen in your family today! Now....off for a day of family fun!!

Saturday Steps of Faith- The Big Picture

Today is Saturday, a day where with Lisa I choose to ponder what promises of God I am being blessed with! This morning I was looking through one of my mothers bibles (she had three of them that I took after she died). I found a bookmark in the Bible, and I was very blessed by what it had to say. I wanted to share it today.

My life is but a weaving, Between my God and me.

I do not choose the colors, He worketh steadily.

Oftimes He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride,

Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.

Not 'til the loom is silent, And shuttles cease to fly.

Will God unroll the canvas And explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful In the skillful weaver's hand,

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned!

`G.C Tullar

I'm praising God today, that although I don't always understand that which he brings into my life, and the lives of others that I love....I will someday! When I meet my savior face to face, I will have a full understanding of it all, and will see how God's plans and purposes in our lives were perfect and without fault! What a wonderful day that will be, to see the big picture the way our Lord does. He is faithful, His timing is perfect, and He is the skillful weaver, who brings all things about for his glory and our good! Praise the Lord!

Loving Your Husband Friday- Putting Me Above Himself!

Today is Friday...which means focusing on our hubbys and what we love about them. I'm thanking the Lord today for a husband who stayed home with all seven of my kids for two whole days, while I went with my Dad to Dayton. The trip meant a lot to me, and he didn't even flinch about allowing me to go. He took good care of the kids while I was gone, and that even including getting them to church on time Sunday morning (even though the power went out). I knew it was going to be rough on him, but he was thinking more about me, and not about himself! I praise the Lord for a husband who is not only capable of taking care of our children when I need to be gone, but for a husband who cares enough about me to allow me to be gone when it is needed! He's a caring husband, and a great daddy! All 7 of them were alive and even dressed when I got home :-)!!

Join Shannon at The Peer Review for more focus on our husbands today!

Thousand Words Thursday

I like to go back to the oldies for the Thousand Word Thursdays, because between here and Facebook, I usually share my newer pictures with everyone. The other day as I was looking for a different picture...I came across this picture...I had almost forgotten how little our Lily was.
This was our Lillian when she was born...five weeks early. She was 5 pounds and 1 ounce. The one on the left is Audrey's baby doll!
She looked so much like a doll when she was a baby. My mom used to call her my "little dolly"
Here she is today.....a bigger little girl. She will be two in early October...hard to imagine. She's still rather small and petite! But, there's nothing small or petite about her personality!!

Join Cheaper Than Therapy for more Thousand Words Thursday

Thinking Healthy Thursdays- How much?

Hi all. If any of you follow my homeschool blog, you know that I am attempting to lose weight, and get healthy. So, I like to follow up my Weight Loss Wednesday over there, with Thinking Healthy Thursdays here. I think being healthy is important. We as Christians know that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit, and from a purely logical perspective, if we are taking good care of ourselves, we can accomplish much more for the Kingdom. So, I'm attempting to pass along anything that I learn on my journey to help my entire family become healthy. These might sometimes be tips on general health and weight loss or fitness, but I may also pass along anything that I find that has anything to do with our health! I would also love for anyone to pass anything they have learned along to me! So, please feel free to share anything having to do with health for adults or children!

This week I've been working on a new game plan for my family in eating and drinking. I discussed the first week how we should be drinking lots of water. Well, I realized that hubby and my kids are not drinking as much water as they should be. So, in my quest to keep everyone eating right, and drinking the water that they should, I did some research on daily calorie needs, and daily water needs for my children. What I found out from my family doctor was that a 9-13 year old needs about 1800 calories a day (this can rise depending on activity level). A child between 4-8 around 1200 calories, and the littlest ones 1-3 need only 1000 calories a day. This gives me a good starting point for them of how to help my young ones who tend to want to eat things just because they taste good even though they are not hungry...learn to balance their eating. So, ideally we should be eating only healthy foods that would be lower in calories anyhow. But for the times we don't...we can look at serving sizes, and keep our eating reigned in to how many calories we actually need. For my older ones, they can earn more calories with more activities! This is kind of how my doctor does things with his kids.

Now, for water, I just looked on the internet. I discovered that the general rule of thumb is 1 quart of water per 50 pounds. Again, this is baseline, and more might be required for greater activity level. So, for my family that translates into between 3-4 quarts a day for hubby and I ( a tad more for him), which I fill up my 4 quart container and try to finish it every day. For my 11 year old, 2 quarts a day. For my 9 year old, 1 1/2 quarts a day. My 8 year old, 1 quart a day. My 5 year old, also about 1 quart (he's small for his age...she's big for her age!). My 3 year old needs about 1/2 quart a day and I don't worry much about the baby, she drinks 32 ounces a day with her bottles! Again, more is requred for more activity, especially on hot days, but this should be the minimum amount every day for each of them. So, my plan for them is to go out and get them each a container that will hold the right amount of water for them, and they can each make sure that they are getting the right amount every day when that container is empty!

So, that is my new health knowledge for the week, I hope it was helpful to someone out there. I will also give a plug for www.sparkpeople.com. If you are thinking about trying to lose weight, or just stay healthy and fit, I just joined this yesterday, and so far, I am pretty impressed with it. There are different groups you can join for encouragement, and it helps you set goals, and keep track of stuff. Pretty neat.

Happy Health!

Thankful Thursday

I decided to join Truth 4 the Journey for Thankful Thursday today. The key is to write 5 things that you are thankful for.

1. I'm thankful for the forgiveness that God so graciously gives me on a daily basis.

2. I'm thankful for the delicious veggies that our pastor's wife passed on to me from their garden, and the fellowship of believers.

3. I'm thankful for the fact that my dear friend who has been fighting for life in the last few weeks, appears to be showing some improvements.

4. I'm thankful for God's Word, that gives comfort when needed!

5. I'm thankful for my 7 children, and how much they enjoy life and each other.

These are just five things that I have been thankful for in the past week. Head over to Truth 4 the Journey, to see more things to be thankful for!

In His Word Wednesday- Where is your House?

This may seem a little odd, but this morning I am reminded of a children's song:

The wise man built his house upon the rock

The wise man built his house upon the rock.

The wise man built his house upon the rock...

and the rains came tumbling down.

The rains came down and the floods came up,

The rains came down and the floods came up,

The rains came down and the floods came up...

and the house on the rock stood firm!

The foolish man built his house upon the sand,

The foolish man built his house upon the sand,

The foolish man built his house upon the sand....

and the rains came tumbling down...

The rains came down and the floods came up,

The rains came down and the floods came up..

The rains came down and the floods came up...

and the house on the sand went....SPLAT!

So build your life on the Lord, Jesus Christ,

So build your life on the Lord, Jesus Christ,

So build your life on the Lord, Jesus Christ,

and the blessings will come down!

This song was created based on a parable that Jesus told about the house on the rock, and the house on the sand. This last year and a half...the rain has been coming down for me and my family! The last couple of weeks, the rain has been coming down for one family very close to me! For the last few days the rains have been coming down for another family, who lost a son and a brother! I have learned in my life, how important it is to have my life built on the rock...which is Jesus Christ. Though the rains come down, and the winds blow hard...I can keep my faith and trust in Him. I can even have joy, despite the many difficult circumstances that God has led us through! These other families that have had much rain in their lives in the past couple of weeks are also keeping the faith...because they have this same foundation...the Rock, which is Jesus Christ!

Does this mean that we do not grieve? Or that we do not have days where we are down, and sad? No....we all have our days. Sometimes life seems overwhelming, when there are so many crises, and so many losses. But, there is always a peace, a peace that we cannot understand, but it is there, holding us up. This is the peace of our savior. There is the point in which we cannot go on alone, and God lifts us up in his arms and carries us to where we need to be.

If there is anyone reading this who doubts that they have their house built upon the rock, which is Jesus Christ, then I would love to talk to you about how you can have this foundation. If you fear that your house is built on the sand, because perhaps it is has already gone splat, and you have already lost your way in your trials, and you don't know where to find this peace..then it's time to think about how you can find that peace, in the savior, who died for your sins!

Please pray today for the Maines family, who on Sunday lost their 21 year old son in a horrible accident.

Please pray for the Peer family as their wife, mother, mother-in-law, is barely hanging on to life today in the hospital, and will have a very long road, if God chooses to allow her a recovery.

Please pray for my dad, as he has finished his cancer treatments, and will be having some scans and finding out whether these weeks of treatments have done what they were intended to do.

Please pray for my family, as we come to grips with all of the grief around us. We have grown weary of loss, but we continue to cling to the cross and it's promises for our lives, and rejoice in the name of the Lord!

Join Megan for more In His Word Wednesday.

Child Training Tuesdays- Walking the Walk

I've been thinking for a few days about what aspect of child training did I want to discuss today. I just couldn't make a decision. Then it hit me this morning as I was traveling to the tennis courts for my children's lessons. We can talk to our kids, discipline our kids, pray for our kids, preach to our kids, take them to church, read them good books....etc. There are so many things that we can do to train our children in the way they should go. But, what happens if we ourselves are not modeling the attributes that we want to see in our children? This is so very important. We all have faults and things that we struggle with in our lives. We all have areas that we want to see our children do better in because we know how that negative aspect complicates our own lives. However, if you are always telling your children to do something better, or if they know that the Bible says something, but they know that their parents aren't doing it...then we become hypocrites.

Now, I personally believe that because we all struggle in some areas, that we cannot avoid sometimes being a hypocrite with our children. It doesn't make sense to sit back and watch your child make mistakes, and not do anything about it simply because you don't have complete control over that in your life either. What I believe is of utmost importance in this area is to be real and upfront with your children, first off, and then be working. I think if our children know that we struggle with something in our own lives, but that we are working on making it better, then they will not see us as hypocrites, but will understand that sin needs to be recognized, repented of, and then worked on.

This aspect of training applies to every area of our lives. Do we expect our children to read their bible every day, but we are not doing it. Do we expect them to eat healthy, but we sneak around eating junk food all the time? Do we tell them to control their temper with one another, but then they see mommy and daddy having a blowout with each other, or perhaps with someone else. Or, do we blow up at them when they push us to that limit? These are all areas that we can become hypocrites, if, we do not recognize them in our own lives, repent, be upfront about it with them, and then show them what we are doing to work on these areas in our own lives.

I would love to hear thoughts from other parents on this aspect of training. What are some other ways you can think of that we should be mindful that we are not being hypocrites with our children?

It seems to me that Jesus was most upset with those that were hypocrites. And that Bible is also clear that we are not to provoke our children to wrath. So, with those things in mind...how can we do our best in making sure that our children are learning from us how to better love and serve him, and not to turn away from him because they have not learned how to truly walk the walk? Please share your thoughts with me on this matter, so that we can all encourage one another in this area.

I Heart Faces Kids- Feet Week

This week at I Heart Faces, it's feet week. This picture I call Little Feet on the Go. This is my little Elias. I have always loved this picture and how his little feet are taking him to big places. Although the picture doesn't focus completely on his feet, I am always drawn to his little feet when I look at the picture. His little feet are getting bigger now....it's so sad!

Be sure to click on the I Heart Faces above for more feet!

Loving Your Husband Friday- Stand By Me

I love my husband today because he loves me enough to want to help me make things right. When I do or say something that causes hurt or offense, even if I did not intend it that way, he gently helps me to see how I could have done better. He does not get angry with me, even if I have done something that reflected badly on him. He is willing to listen and understand that my intentions were good, and he looks at my intentioins, not on the negative action. He gives me the benefit of the doubt, because he knows me, and wants me to be the best person I can be. He's a great husband for this. I've been very thankful for him this week, in being so understanding, when I have had one of those kind of weeks where it seemed even my best intentions ended up coming out the wrong way!

And even better, in the past when I have said or done something, and my intentions were not good, he is always willing to forgive, because he understands that we all fall short, and we all will do things to let each other down. I only hope that I do as good a job at this as he does!

Hopefully next week will be better, and he can only be proud to say that I am his wife, the same way that I am proud that he is my husband!

Please Join Shannon for more Loving Your Husband today, and pray for the marriages of others!

Friend Makin' Monday- Favorite Things

The topic for this weeks Friend Makin Monday is favorite things. Now, I'm already starting out on a bad footing here, because I see so many others have included neat pictures to go with their list of their favorite things. As much as I would love to find pictures to go with all of my favorite things, I could likely get another load of laundry done, and vaccuum the living room and feed the baby in the time it would take me to do all of that. So, I'll try to be descriptive, so that you can close your eyes and envision what I am talking about. So, here are my 5 to 10 favorite things.

1. Sandals....yes you heard me right. I think sandals are one of the best things ever invented. If you know me, you know that I would go barefoot all the time if possible. Who wants to be bothered with socks and tying shoes and all of that? My feet are rebellious, and long to be free. Now, since it isn't practical to go barefoot all the time, everywhere, then sandals are the wonderful compromise. I also wish that my children could wear sandals all year long. How, how much easier life would be. I look forward to summer for the simple fact of sandals weather. Ok, everyone, throw on your sandals/crocs, and let's go! Sooo easy! Give me a good pair of Birkenstock sandals, and weather warm enough to wear them and I am happy!
2. Blueberries....ahh...one of God's greatest creations. I'm thinking alot about blueberries as I am thinking next week, we are going to head up to our blueberrie place (the one we go to every year), and get about 30 pounds of blueberries. MMM....just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Delicious and nutritious, you can't beat that can you. Not to mention all the berries that I will freeze, that will supply us with blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins, blueberry smoothies, and blueberry pie for the whole winter. I personally never tire of blueberries, and my kids love them too!
3. My MP3 player! I go crazy when my player loses it's charge. I like to listen to my own music while I am doing my chores. I've been a music junkie my whole life, and I think and MP3 player is one of the best inventions. Gone are the days when I had to fast forward through songs I don't like. Now, I can just put the songs I like on there, and I'm good to go. Love it!
4. Little House on the Prairie. Ok, this sounds silly, but I love Little House on the Prairie. I love the books, I love the show (except the last season or two kind of went downhill). I can sit down and watch episodes with my kids, and it is entertaining, but there is always something to teach them something valuable about History, or character.
5. Chocolate...ok, I can't talk about things that are my favorite without mentioning chocolate.
6. Lake Michigan. I love Lake Michigan. I have lived within an hour of the Lake my whole life, and I would rather go to Lake Michigan than the ocean any time. With Lake Michigan, it's so big, that you get the benefits, and feel of the ocean without all the irritating things about the ocean (salt water, sharks, jelly fish, crabs). Now, granted it might not always be as warm as the ocean, but the trade off works for me. There are also so many wonderful small towns on the coasts of Lake Michigan, that you could spend days just going up and down the coast, and have a whole vacation right there.
7. The Bumbo seat. I got one of these from a friend when my Lily was just learning to sit up, and I have loved it. I use it to feed the babies there baby food, when it is too cumbersome to use a high chair for them yet. It also helps them learn to sit up on their own, and balance. I am now using it with Donna, and it works so well for me to sit in my recliner, feed her some bottle, and then sit her little seat on the foot stool of my recliner, and then feed her some food, then back to the bottle. Those were a great invention.

So, these are 7 of my favorite things. I look forward to hearing more from others. Sorry, no pictures! Have a great day, and head over to Dandelion Wishes today for more Friend Making Monday.

At The Well- Living in the Spirit

How can you react when someone tries to undermine you as a parent or encourages something with your children that you do not agree with? Do you get mad or angry like a momma bear? (I used to.) How can you better react and still stay in the Spirit?

What ways can we rebuke un-Godliness and still be loving? Maybe it is a display of an un-Godly relationship or public drinking or something else that you have taught your children displeases the Lord?

How do you react when your small child asks a family member who is doing something wrong why they do that? Do you hush the child or make excuses? Is your reaction understandable to the child and in the Spirit?

These are the good questions being posed by Penny At the Well today. Head over there to see her entire post.

I've been pondering these questions this morning, as I've been doing my laundry and other chores.

To understand how to respond to anything in the Spirit, we need to think about what the Bible says about such matters. We need to think about what the Bible says in regards to the words that we would use with others, and how we should use them. Psalms 19 :14 says, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." Proverbs 15:1 tells us that "A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger." Verse 4 then tells us that " A soothing tongue is a tree of life...", and Ephesians 4:29-32 is very clear..."Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you with all malice. Be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you."

I think these verses make it pretty clear as to how we should address the actions of others that we might encounter, and how we can teach our children to respond to others as well.

One thing that I think we all need to remember also is that our children need to first be very grounded in the word of God, and understand what is sin, and what is not. Then, I feel, that we need to help our children see that the unbeliever cannot be held to the same standards as the believer. We teach our children that there is a different standard. An unbeliever does not need us to point out sin in their lives, without also pointing out that everyone sins, and that there is a Savior who died to save them from their sins. If our children understand that compassion for the lost, and a genuine desire to see them come to true repentance, should supercede our desire to change their behavior, they will have a better picture of what Christ came to do for all of us. It is our job as Christian parents, not just to teach our children what is right and what is wrong in God's eyes, but also to teach them that mixed with this abhorrance for what is wrong, there needs to be a compassion for the lost, and the weaker brothers and sisters in Christ. If I, as a mother, approach someone about what I perceive as sin, with anger, and malice, then I have just slapped the gospel in the face. Christ came to seek and to save the lost. He loved, he served, and he made the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. We know that Christ was not silent when it came to pointing out sins. We need to carefully remember in front of our children, what sins he was most vocal about. It was the sin of hypocrisy. The sins of the pharisees, who took it upon themselves to point out how others were sinners, and they were perfect, because they kept the law. This is what we need to be careful of.

Our words to others, should always be gentle, kind, seasoned with salt, well chosen, and used, only when absolutely needed. The words we choose when responding to someone who has wronged us or our children, should always be equal to the words of our savior, filled with compassion and concern for their hearts, not just their actions. I think this is one of the most important lessons that we can teach our kids. If they are grounded in the word, they will know sin when they see it, but how will we model their responses to it? If they have parents that can only accuse, and never show kindness, love or compassion, then we are teaching them to be like the pharisees.

Our children,in their innocence, will always have questions for someone who they see doing wrong. I think it's ok to allow them to ask the tough questions, if they can do it in a fashion that does not insult or tear down. A very young child, will often sound offensive, because they do not yet understand how to use words of compassion, but I think others also understand, and the woords of that little one with high standards might just make them think about their actions. Children can be taught by example how to mix their "rebuke" with compassion and kindness, and when is an appropriate time to use them. Behind the scenes it is most important that we are continually having dialogue with our children, not about what pleases us, or makes us mad, but what pleases our savior, and what doesn't. We can be very vocal about what we see in the world that is wrong, and sinful, and still be vocal in our compassion for the people themselves, and our desire to show mercy and love to them. We should teach our children to hate sin, but also to love the sinner.

I have many other thoughts on this matter, but not enough to time right now to get them all verbalised. If anyone has any further thoughts on the matter, I would love to hear them. God's blessings to all the parents out there who, like myself, are plugging away, and trying to teach our children what God desires in all our lives.

I Heart Faces Pets Edition

These are our outside pets for the summer. These baby birds were born a few weeks ago in our pear tree. They were just waiting for mama to come feed them!

Head over to I Heart Faces for more pet pictures.

I Heart Faces Kids- Sports in Action

This week's theme is sports in action. I love this picture of my three oldest boys playing football. The little brother's are so obviously enjoying "taking down" their older brother. They are taking it very seriously. Owen is so obviously not enjoying it! There is a lot of emotion in this picture!

Head on over to I Heart Faces to see more sports in action pics.

Thousand Words Thursday

My little patriot!

Go to Cheaper Than Therapy for more Thousand Words Thursday!

Thinking Healthy Thursdays- Foods to eat before you Workout!

Since I am still sick today I am going to just pass along this article that I received about what kinds of foods to eat before a workout, I found it pretty informative, as I'm attempting to lose weight, and work out! Enjoy, and let me know if you have any further thoughts:

There are lots of opinions about how to eat before a workout. Some say eating a pre-exercise meal gives them the energy they need to keep up the pace or go the distance. Others say food sits like a gut bomb and gives them cramps. We all grew up with Mom's rule about no swimming for an hour after lunch. Who's got the right answer? Mom comes closest.

Anything you eat right before you workout is unlikely to digest enough to provide the fuel your muscles need immediately to perform well. Instead, your body uses stored energy. The major source of fuel for active muscles is glycogen, broken down from carbohydrates and stored in muscles hours and days before exercise. That's why many athletes do carbo-loads the night before big events; so they have time to digest and store fuel.

Working out on a completely empty stomach isn't your best bet either as low blood sugar can cause rapid fatigue. Many athletes snack before they lace up their shoes. But what's best to eat?

The American College of Sports Medicine says, "Research suggests meals with a low or moderate glycemic index provide sustained energy to significantly boost exercise capacity, increase endurance, and extend the time before you need to refuel."

What's a glycemic index? It's a nutritional tool that suggests how fast the glucose in common foods respond to insulin, is digested and absorbed into the blood. Many food factors work together to affect this rate including the amount of fiber and sugar in the food and even cooking method. Typically, foods with a low glycemic index have high fiber content (like apples and bran cereal) and only elevate blood sugar moderately. Foods with a moderate gycemic index include oatmeal and bananas. Donuts have a high glycemic value. They break down into glucose that enters the blood stream and elevates blood glucose levels quickly. They also cause a large release of insulin that subsequently slams blood sugar to the ground. That's no way to start a workout.

Your best nutrition plan is to maintain a consistent, balanced healthy diet. If you know you'll be doing a big weekend run or all-day soccer tournament; load up on healthy carbohydrates like whole grain pasta, along with lean protein and healthy fats for a few days before your event. An hour or two before you exercise, have a small meal or snack that includes whole grain bread, cereal, fruit or yogurt. Include a little protein for a longer lasting fuel supply. Toast and peanut butter are good choices. When you finish your workout, a healthy meal provides the fuel your body needs for cell recovery.

Updated: June 17, 2009

Copyright © 2009 QualityHealth.com. All rights reserved.

In His Word Wednesday- How are We spending our Time?

I apologize again, for another late post, but I am still recovering, and trying to do many things. I've taken up all my sick days :-)! Anyhow, I was reading in one of my mom's old bibles today, which I am very blessed to have in my possession since her death. My mom has so many notes, and writing in her bibles, that they are all falling apart. As it should be...I could only aspire to be the fervent studier of the word that my mom was. Anyhow something stuck out to me that she had underlined, and it goes along with something that I was already pondering before I read it.

James 4:14...For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. My mom had a full understanding of this verse, as both of her parents passed away at very young ages. I too, now understand this verse in ways that I could not before. Our lives are a vapor...and what are we doing with them? In this vapor of life that we have, how are we using our time? How are we using our money? And dear ladies in blogland, and otherwise......how are we using our words? Are we looking to serve, to minister, to bless, to encourage, to build up, to plant seeds, to promote the savior and his good works? Or, are we wasting this short time on this Earth with quarrels, and cutting words. Are we wasting our time with celebrities, and entertainment? Are we wasting our money on things that we will not be taking with us when we meet our glorious heavenly Father? These are questions that I have to stop and ask myself everyday. There is a song that I really love, by a group called the Marshalls. Part of it goes like this....Is there anything I would not do for you Lord, for the one, who came to die for me. Leaving my desires for you Lord, open my eyes that I might see. Father, take my heart, cleanse it in every part. Incline me to, always loving you, Longing to do your hearts desire......I wonder have I done enough for you Lord, when you have done so much for me.

We can never do enough for Jesus. Even though we don't have to do anything, but trust in Him for our salvation, we should never stop wanting to please Him, and let me assure you, we may not have as much time to do so, as we would like! I would like to spend all my time working for the Lord, and I know there are days when I won't, but perhaps our prayer for every morning should be.....tell me what I can do for you today Lord, so that I won't waste my time on the things that are not of you!

Don't forget to join Megan for more In His Word Wednesday!

Child Training Tuesdays- Picking your Battles

Good afternoon all! Forgive me for being so late with this post. I've been sick and miserable the last couple of days. As we speak I am sweating out a fever, and hoping that this massive headache of mine will go with it! But, I always enjoy these posts on Tuesday, so here I am.

The last couple of weeks we have been attending a small group bible study on parenting your young children. The study is a video series from Les and Leslie Parrot. There is a book that goes along with it, and the fellowship and trading of ideas has been wonderful. I do not neccessarily agree with everything that the Parrots say, but the overall messages are good.

We have discussed many things during this study, and one of the things that has stuck out to me has been talking about how we can keep a good relationship between us and our children. Last week we talked about discipline, and how to pick our battles. This is always a tough one for me. I often feel like I need to learn when to pick certain battles. We shared with our group how our 3 year old is soo very picky, and when he doesn't get something exactly the way he thinks it should be, he throws a major fit. I'm talking a MAJOR fit. He's very dramatic in his fit throwing. This is something I struggle with, because even though he is my 5th child, I have never really had a child who acts this way. If you give him a blue cup, he wants the red. If you give him a whole sandwich, he wants it cut in half. If you give him a little bit of milk, he needs more. And on and on.... I don't want him to be spoiled, and get what he wants all the time, but dealing with his tantrums gets very tiring. Someone suggested to us, that it would help if we always tell him ahead of time that this is exactly what he is getting, or how much he is getting, and then only if he then throws a fit, is it worth being disciplined, because then he is disobeying. This made some sense to me. So, in other words, make sure everything is spelled out for him ahead of time, and it might help him feel more prepared for things, and less out of control.

So, here is where you all come in. Tell me what your thoughts are on this matter. Do you have a child who acts like this? If so, how do you deal with it? How do you as a parent learn to pick your battles, not just with the little ones, but with your big ones too? I have always felt that you have to learn the difference between childishness and genuine disobedience, but that is sometimes harder then it sounds. Tell me what you think. How do you go about choosing which battles to fight, and dealing with a child who seems to want to fight battles all the time? I'm dying to hear from all of you out there.

At the Well- Selfishness and Self Pity

Ah...selfishness and self-pity, those are topics that I know a lot about. That is what is being discussed At The Well today. In thinking about this topic, I am thinking back to what I wrote about last night, and how God is longing to forgive us for even the grievous of sins (like murder and adultery). If you have missed that post check it out here! I am glad for that, because the sin of selfishness and self pity can often abound in me with my husband and children. How about you? It's easy to say that we love our husbands and our children...of course we do right? But, are we acting out that live, with selflessness, and servitude, or do we gripe, complain, feel irritated, frustrated, and feel sorry for ourselves, because we work so hard, and noone appreciates us? Sigh...I don't know about you, but this is often me.

How often do I feel sorry for myself, because I have to work so hard for them, and I feel like they don't do enough for me? Far too often. I know it's not right, but I find myself going there anyhow. Now, I have a great husband. If nothing else, he stays with me :-). That is saying a lot, in this day and age, when it seems so easy for even Christian men to be found straying from their wives. He is very good with the kids, and has a great heart for the Lord, and yet I still manage to find myself not feeling like doing stuff for him. Shame on me. We wives were made for our husbands, to be their helpers, not the other way around. The only thing that ruins this is when we wives start thinking about our rights and our needs. We can gripe to God all we want, but the bottom line is that he created us to help, and submit to our husbands. This means that if we want to show the proper kind of love to them, then we will help them in everything, and we will submit to their final decisions on things. This is how we can genuinely show love to our husbands. I personally find myself not wanting to help my husband because I've got things that I want to do instead, or not allowing him to have the final say in what I do, because I don't agree with what he said. I am not loving my husband if I do this, no matter how many times I say I do. Love is an action, it is not always a feeling. If we truly love them, we will support them. This means respecting and acting out on what they want us to do. That means keeping their house clean, or having healthy meals on the table, or keeping the children in line, or finding ways to supplement the income, if that is needed. It means finding ways to help him in his daily work, and his spiritual work, so that He has the time to fit in everything that he needs to do. Why? Does he deserve this? It really doesn't matter, it is what we wives are called to do by God.

Now, what about our children...surely we always love our children don't we? Well, I will always tell you that I do, but I would also tell you that my actions do not always show it. Do I show patience and kindness with them? Am I slow to anger, and quick to praise? Do I take the time to listen, or am I always busy when they have something to tell me? Sadly, I often fail in these areas. And here's another thought that really condemns me....am I loving them by loving their daddy in the ways that I should. This is so important, because if we show love to our children, and yet fail to show proper love and respect to our husbands, we are sadly still failing them.

It is so easy to get caught up in ourselves. We mothers have a tendency to tout our own selflessness and self-sacrifice, but if someone were to ask our husband and our children if they know they always know that they are loved by us, by the things that we do for them...what are they going to say? I would be afraid to know!! I fear that I would be ashamed of their answers. I spend far too much time thinking about my own wants and needs, instead of selflessly serving. Yes, I've made sacrifices for my husband and my children, but were they truly selfless? Or has there been a little part of me that just wants to play the martyr and get my pat on the back? Ouch...this self reflection is very painful! I pray that all of you wives and mothers would do what I have done today, and examine yourselves and your actions of love to your family. Do you truly act out of selfless love and sacrifice, or does there always have to be something in it for you? Do you children know you love them because of your actions, or do they doubt your empty words? Do you spend your days fulfilling yourself, or pleasing the Savior in your actions by serving your family? I know that I am in need of repentence and a turning away in my life in this area. How about you? If you feel that you are always struggling with this in your life, leave me a comment or send me an email at rebabler@comcast.net, and I would love to pray for you, because I know how important it is to be right with God in this area, and yet how easy it is to stumble! God's blessings to all of the wives and mamas out there.

Be sure to read more over at the Well. Click on At the Well, up above!

Sunday Meditations- On murder, adultery, sin, and forgiveness!!

Today our pastor was giving his sermon. He has been speaking about breaking up with the world. This has been his topic for the last few weeks. It has been very thought provoking, and insightful. Well, I missed some of his sermon today, due to a sweet, yet cranky Donna Jane in the nursery, whom only mommy could rock to sleep again. But, there was something he said before I was paged to go comfort my baby, that I have been pondering all day, and I wanted to take the time to share it with all of you.

He was talking about hatred, and the Bible's view of it. He talked about Cain and Able, and how Cain had hatred in his heart for his brother Able, which led him to kill his brother. So, he became the first murderer. Now, this brings us to 1 John 2:9-11 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Ok, so what does all that mean? Well, first you have to understand what it means when it talks about the Light and the darkness. To be in the Light is a reference to walking in the Holy Spirit, or with Jesus. Jesus is the Light (which is why it is capitolized), and this would refer also to being born again, or fully trusting Jesus to save you. Now, darkness is a reference to being without Christ, and being totally in sin. So, what these verses are saying is that if you hate your brother you are in darkness, and if you love your brother you are in the Light. I have known those verses for many years, and have always struggled with them to some extent. Christ tells us that in the eyes of God, hate and murder are one in the same. 1John 3:15 reminds us of this when it says that, "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in Him." So, it is clear that to harbor any kind of hate in your mind whatsoever, makes you a murderer! It is also clear that no murderer can be walking in the Light or have eternal life? Wow, that pretty much condemns everyone doesn't it? Is there any person who has never had a hateful thought about another human being before? I know I'm guilty!

This is where it gets good....keep reading. This is where forgiveness comes in! If you have trusted in Christ as your savior, and you have the Spirit within you, then you are forgiven. Now, the confusion comes with the verses and their insistence that you cannot have eternal life if you have comitted this murdering offence of having hatred in your heart. But, here is something that I was reminded of today, that gave me a good reminder of God's forgiveness, and how it envelopes our sins. Think of David. NOw, if you are not all that familiar with David and his life, then here is a brief synopsis of the story that I will reference. The most familiar story of David is when he slayed Goliath with his sling, but what happened after that in his life, is a roller coaster of sin and grace and forgiveness. David became king of Israel, and was loved by his people. He developed a rather big head, let's say. Well, one day he was on the roof, and he saw a beautiful woman, who was also on the roof (his roof would have been taller then hers), and he began watching her. Now, of course, we know that he was lusting after her...the Bible is clear that she was very beautiful. So, not only did he lust after her, but he decided that he wanted her for his very own!! Now, Bathsheba was her name, and she was already taken, as was David. But, hey, I'm the king...I'll get what I want....right? So, David did something shocking (shocking because up until this point, it was clear that he was a man of God, a man who loved God). David, sent Bathsheba's husband Uriah off to war...and made it clear that he wanted him to not come back!! Stunning! He then took Bathsheba as his own wife! Wow, talk about murder and hatred (not to mention lust and greed, and adultery, all of which are clearly sins!!). So, Uriah is now dead, and Bathsheba belongs to David. But, David had a trusted advisor, a prophet of the Lord, who came to him, and reminded him that what he had done was very wrong in the eyes of the Lord!! David's eyes were opened to his sin, and he deeply repented of this sin. The consequence of this sin was the loss of a son that they had just had together. This was devastating to David, but he recognized that he needed to be punished, and he called out to God in repentance. And then David picked up and moved on with his life, trying to walk in the right way! Now, David would make some other mistakes, but every time, he cried out in repentence. God tells us in his word years after David's death, that David was a man after God's own Heart.

Think of it....an adulterer was a man after God's own heart. Adultery is something else that God is clear about in His word, that if you even lust after a woman in your heart, you are walking in darkness as an adulterer. David did not just stop at lusting, he became a full fledged adulterer. So, how did he end up becoming a man after God's own heart......repentance. Acknowledging his sin, accepting his consequences, the destruction of his son, and family. But, moving on from it, in repentance, and vowing to do what is right!

This adultery also caused him to become a murderer (a slippery slope is sin indeed), and yet still...he's a man after God's own heart! How?? Again, repentance, and a turning from his sin!!!

Do you realize what this means for us?? This means dear ones, that we can be adulterers, or murderers, or liars, or drunkards, or any other sin that keeps us in darkness, but we can still leave this world as a man or woman after God's own heart!!! Wow! What a thought! All we need to do, is repent from these sins, and to turn from them, and God is eager (yes, eager) to forgive!! If you have been an adulterer, or even lusted after someone in your heart, God wants to forgive! If you have been a murderer, or even had a hateful thought about someone, God wants to forgive! If you have any sin, none is too great, He wants to forgive!! And you know what else...after He forgives, He wants to bless you!! Can you imagine, after all that David did against God, that God would still bless him...but he did. After his repentence, Bathsheba became pregnant once again. This time with another bouncing baby boy....you may be familiar with him, his name was Solomon. Solomon, would later become the King, and be known is History as the wisest man that lived, and he was also the builder of the temple! God was not only eager to bless, but also to forgive!!

Praise God for his mercy, for his wanting to forgive us of our sins, and give us eternal life with him! No sin is too large for him, no amount of sin is too many for him. If we only acknowledge our sin to him and turn from it, than He is DYING to forgive us, and Bless us. In fact, He did die to forgive us, because when he sent Jesus to the Earth to die on the cross for us, this wiped away all our sin for eternity...and all it takes is acceptance to obtain it!!

If you have any questions about this, I would love to discuss it with you. Email me at rebabler@comcast.net, or leave a comment if you like. If you can't tell, I was excited to share this, so if you do read it, feel free to comment, if it blessed you or left you with questions!

Saturday Steps of Faith- God's love and Presence!

Saturday Steps of Faith is when Lisa reminds us to think about God's promises in our lives! Please go to Passionate Pursuit to see more! You will be blessed.

I was thinking this morning about a truth that has become so evident in my life in recent times. God promises that He will never leave us or forsake us. Hebrews 13:5

What does this mean exactly? Does it really mean never? When you think about this, it is astounding. Never is a word that we might throw around a lot. We say things like "I will never do that again?", and my kids are famous for saying...."I'll NEVER get to......" What does it mean when we say never? It usually means for awhile. When we say never, it is likely not never, but for a time. But, when God says never, He means for all eternity, with no end. Think of that....God will not leave us or forsake us for ALL eternity. This is truly never!

If we beleive in Him, He won't leave us for anything EVER! Romans 8:38 tells us that "Neither death, nor life, neither angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor things to come, nor any other created thing, will be able to seperate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I think that about covers anything that could possibly take God's love away from us. That is two different times that God assures us that He will always be there, and He will always love us. What a wonderful promise He gives us that we can cling to in difficult times, not only in our personal lives, but with things going on in the world as a whole. God sees and knows all, and He will follow His believers into the depths, and still love us, no matter what the world, or our government throws at us! Praise God for his love, and that He will never leave us, or forsake us!!

Favorite Family Pics of the Week!

This is Elias at the Tea Party that we went to today. He loved the flags

Janie, being "worn" by daddy at Fernwood!

My boys getting ready for the 4th festivities

I love this pic of Audrey and Lillian.

Once again, I couldn't pick just one picture this week. These are all from this weekend! Enjoy, and have a great 4th!

Loving Your Husband Friday- Sharing my Values

Good morning on this Friday morning! It's time to focus on our husbands today, and why we love them. This morning, I was thinking of some of the basic reasons why I love my hubby. I love the way that Rob and I believe in the same things.

Of course, there are times when we disagree on this or that, but overall, for the big stuff, we are always on the same page. We have always wanted the same things in life. To love and serve God, to raise a large brood of children, to homeschool, to live as simple a life as possible. We generally laugh about the same things (although, not always :-)), and we get upset about the same things. We share our faith, our political ideas, and our ideas of what a Christian family should look like. Even though we are different people in personality, he is definitely a Kindred Spirit. This may sound a little silly, but it sure does make life more enjoyable to be married to someone who shares the important views of life with me! Makes me feel very blessed that God introduced us.

Share today what you love about your husband. Join Shannon for more Loving Your Husbands Friday.

Happy BIrthday America....and many more??

Saturday is America’s birthday, and I have question marks, because I wonder if the America that has existed for 232 years, will have many more celebrations. I’m worried about America. You see, the United States of America is our child. Our ancestors gave birth to it, and it belongs to us. In the same way that I worry about my children, I worry about America. I often find myself worrying about a path that my children might be going down, and it’s time to sit them down and discuss with them how this path will bring bad things into their lives. In the same way, I fear that America is going down some very wrong paths. I fear that America is on it’s way to losing it’s relevency. We are gradually losing the spirit, the faith, and the power that we once displayed in the world. I loved the way that Ronald Reagan described America, as the city on the hill. Wow, what an inspiring picture. An America founded on biblical principles, setting an example to the world of Philippians 4:8. In the past we have been the example to the world of what is true, what is noble, what is just, what is lovely, what is of good report, and of what is praiseworthy. Now, does this mean that we have been perfect. Of course not, America, like any child born with original sin, has had it’s share of sins. But, we have always come through the fire, and come back a stronger country for it. Over all America has looked to do what’s right, and be a light in the darkness of the world. When another country is in trouble, who is the first one to their aid….America. When a people is struggling under oppression, who comes to the rescue with the prize of freedom from tyranny…America. We are, after all, the land of the free of the brave.

There really is no place in the world that compares to the United States of America, our lovely city on the hill. But, is our country continuing down the same path that will keep it strong, and free, and brave! It does not appear that way to me. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. There are many of us out there, that think it is time for discipline. It’s time to get in the face of our “child” and tell them that they are taking the wrong road, and convince them to turn back…before there are consequences! When our child is in trouble, we mama’s fight to keep them in line. We will do anything to keep that child from having to suffer the consequences of their incorrect actions. As Americans, it’s time to do what we can to keep our country on the right path. Sadly I am aware that sometimes you can do all that you can, and the wrong choices are still made. God gave us our freedom and, like our children, we will often use our freedoms in ways that God never intended.

You may be asking, how is our countrie's free will taking us down the wrong path? The first step came during these last elections. Much of America chose to worship a man, instead of the God that gave us this country to begin with. Much of America voted for the men and women who made them all kinds of promises to better their lives, even though they don’t have the power to do so. We made our bed, and we are now lying in it. Many of us did not vote for these people, but what did we actively do to prevent them from gaining the power they now hold? In the same way we need to be proactive parents, and not reactive parents, we need to guide, correct, and purposely shape our country. If they choose to use their free will for wrong, well, at least we can say we tried, we did our part!

Now, we are seeing the consequences. There are many things on the table now, that make me fear that we are going to lose our “child” altogether. There is the Freedom of Choice Act, the ratification of the UN’s Rights of a Child, Cap and Trade, Universal Healthcare, the movement to keep citizens from being able to sell homes if they are not in regulation with someones idea of Eco-friendliness. There are bailouts of incredible proportions, there are broken promises and there is a general attitude that America should no longer be a powerhouse, but should silently fade into the “international community”. What about our city on a hill? What about our national security? What about our pride, and bravery? Where has it gone? It is slowly being chipped away. The unborn and the elderly in America are no longer important, the authority of parents is no longer acceptable. Many in this country who have died for our freedoms, now have a different eulogy, one that says they shouldn’t have bothered because who needs freedom? Soldiers will no longer die for their country, they will only die for their government to have the right to oppress their people. Other countries around the world will no longer look at us as the powerhouse, that they don’t want to mess with, they will look at us as just another one in the “global community”, that can be threatened and pushed around. When has America ever allowed itself to be pushed around?? The answer to that is…. NEVER! Now, our president is going around asking the very people who would behead us all, to forgive us, and be our friends…why? Because we are no longer a Christian nation!!! My Jesus died for the sins of all men, men who then laid down there lives for my freedom and the freedom of my country, and now we must be ashamed of not only our freedom but the Savior himself! You don’t speak for us, Barack Obama. You don’t speak for those of us who love freedom, and who love God. You don’t really speak for America. My “child”, my America, was founded because of the thirst for freedom, and the thirst to worship the God that created us all! My America does not make excuses for itself, and it’s core beliefs! My America values life…ALL life. My America believes in the rights of its citizens to make their own decisions for their families and their children. My America is One Nation under God! My America is being taken away from me, in ways I hoped it never would. It is being forcibly turned down the wrong paths. We need to pray dear Christians, we need to be involved, and active “parents”. Let’s not just let them take our child away from us without having something to say about it. I want to still be singing Happy Birthday to the same America that I have always known many years down the road. I want to still have to crane my neck to see our beautiful city on a hill, when I am old and gray. If my boys choose to serve their country and they lose their precious lives, I want to be able to say to everyone, my boys died for your freedom, not the governments!

I will now step off of my soapbox, and get back to my regular life, but I will keep my armor on. I will need it in the coming years. I will fight to keep my “child”. Although, I will accept what God allows to happen in our country with faith, because God is always in control, I will not stand by and do nothing. If all is said and done, and the America I once knew no longer exists, then at least I can say, I tried. Perhaps we are no longer a “Christian nation”, but I am still a Christian, and I will fight on the Lord’s side. The Lord who wants us to value life and individual freedoms!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear America……Happy Birthday to you….and many more…