RECLAIMED!
I'll sing it again, "RECLAIMED!!!"
It seems another year has come and gone and we will soon welcome in 2016. It's hard to believe, but its even more amazing to look back over the past few years and see where we started, where we've been, where we are, and looking to where we are going.
I started this blog several years ago, when blogging was a relatively new concept, and somewhere along the way I allowed Life to interfere and I stopped blogging. Since then, the blogosphere has expanded exponentially. Our society has twisted and turned and is hardly recognizable. My family has grown, moved into 3 more homes and moved from the east coast back to the west coast, mended relationships, broken relationships, sent 4 of our kids into the public school system, started a prosperous business...and unfortunately, became relatively stagnant in our walk with God. Hey, I'm all about the honesty here...
Sometimes our walk with God is tight; sometimes we hear his whispers through the chaos of life. But then, there are the "other times:" times when we feel desolate, abandoned, forgotten. Times when we let "busy-ness" be the driving force of our lives... but the bottom-line is that we were never abandoned or forgotten, but it is God who we have abandoned and chose to forget.... loosely speaking.
Although we have never forgotten God, we have not honored him in way we would like lately. We have gone through a quiet season, a season where we haven't heard his whispers quite as loudly.
...but resounding proclamation "RECLAIMED" has echoed in our hearts the past few months and I find it fitting to "reclaim" this blog.
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Saturday, February 16, 2013
God is "Just in Time"
As of late, I am once again in humbled awe at the awesomeness of God and His ability to always know what is best for me at every given moment. It is when my life gets so incredibly chaotic that I finally just throw my hands up in the air and say, "Okay, God, you've got this because I don't have the energy to focus my attention on this matter." This is when He seems to speak the most clear to me, or maybe this is when I tune in to listen.
It is still premature to tell of all that He has been revealing to me: in due time, in due time. But, I do know that God is always "just in time." Of course, he is always "right on time," and never too early or too late--regardless of how we see it from our own human perspective, but "just in time." So where can we go to see this? What about in John 11:1-45? Jesus waited for 4 days before going to the home of Lazarus. When he got there, Martha said to him, "Lord, if you had of been here my brother would not have died." Martha trusted Jesus and had faith that he could have healed him and saved him from death, but she didn't have the faith that Jesus could raise him from the dead. But what did Jesus do? After 4 days, of certain rot and stinkiness, he walked right up to the tomb and called out to Lazarus. To the surprise of the onlookers, Lazarus got up and walked out still wrapped in the burial clothes...I can only imagine what those smelled like...
But Jesus was just in time. Not just in time according to Martha's perspective, but just in time for Him to reveal something mighty and powerful to all of those who witnessed, and for those to later hear.
What about in your life? What is He "just in time" for? Or what will you believe, in faith, that he will be "just in time" for, regardless if the moment seems fleeting or in the past? He is bigger than that.
It is still premature to tell of all that He has been revealing to me: in due time, in due time. But, I do know that God is always "just in time." Of course, he is always "right on time," and never too early or too late--regardless of how we see it from our own human perspective, but "just in time." So where can we go to see this? What about in John 11:1-45? Jesus waited for 4 days before going to the home of Lazarus. When he got there, Martha said to him, "Lord, if you had of been here my brother would not have died." Martha trusted Jesus and had faith that he could have healed him and saved him from death, but she didn't have the faith that Jesus could raise him from the dead. But what did Jesus do? After 4 days, of certain rot and stinkiness, he walked right up to the tomb and called out to Lazarus. To the surprise of the onlookers, Lazarus got up and walked out still wrapped in the burial clothes...I can only imagine what those smelled like...
But Jesus was just in time. Not just in time according to Martha's perspective, but just in time for Him to reveal something mighty and powerful to all of those who witnessed, and for those to later hear.
What about in your life? What is He "just in time" for? Or what will you believe, in faith, that he will be "just in time" for, regardless if the moment seems fleeting or in the past? He is bigger than that.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Hurricane Earl...prepared or not?
It's Wednesday evening and Hurricane Earl is predicted to do some serious damage sometime tomorrow, only a shanty 3 hours from the house. Our area is under a hurricane "watch" but not yet a hurricane "warning." And so, we are in limbo. Do we sit here and wait and pray or do we pray and leave...our decision: to pray and wait. LOL. Oh the joys of life. We have our clothes and supplies packed and waiting at the door, just in case in the even that we do evacuate.
So where is my mind at tonight amongst this? LIFE. A small 4 letter word that in itself is taken for granted. We are all guilty at times of breezing through life on "autopilot" and we tend to forget that we have a God who is greater than ourselves and greater than our circumstances...But if we just breeze thru it on autopilot, taking it all upon our own shoulders, it is as if we are standing in the middle of a Catagory 5 hurricane with our eyes closed and our fingers in our ears singing, "Lalalalalala!" Take your fingers out for crying out loud!!! Run for shelter!!!.........but what happens when we reach the "evacuation call" and we were not prepared? Such as many people in history (Hurricane Katrina for example), people have been blindsided, unprepared, and faced a LIVING HELL, if we are not looking for our shelter, our tower, our refuge, our stonghold in times of trouble (Psalm 91). If we are not "prepared to evacuate," what are we going to be left with, where will we be? If you died right now, how would you stand before God? How will you explain that you were an "over-all good person" to an infinately perfect God who knows every sin you have ever committed? Will you wait until that final judgement to beg for mercy and ask for forgiveness?
In my thinking, this hurricane is much like our salvation, you are either prepared....or not.
MY BAGS ARE AT THE DOOR WAITING!!!
Psalm 91 NIV
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly presilence.
He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkeness nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with yor eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
If you make the Most High your dwelling-even the LORD, who is my refuge-
then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
So where is my mind at tonight amongst this? LIFE. A small 4 letter word that in itself is taken for granted. We are all guilty at times of breezing through life on "autopilot" and we tend to forget that we have a God who is greater than ourselves and greater than our circumstances...But if we just breeze thru it on autopilot, taking it all upon our own shoulders, it is as if we are standing in the middle of a Catagory 5 hurricane with our eyes closed and our fingers in our ears singing, "Lalalalalala!" Take your fingers out for crying out loud!!! Run for shelter!!!.........but what happens when we reach the "evacuation call" and we were not prepared? Such as many people in history (Hurricane Katrina for example), people have been blindsided, unprepared, and faced a LIVING HELL, if we are not looking for our shelter, our tower, our refuge, our stonghold in times of trouble (Psalm 91). If we are not "prepared to evacuate," what are we going to be left with, where will we be? If you died right now, how would you stand before God? How will you explain that you were an "over-all good person" to an infinately perfect God who knows every sin you have ever committed? Will you wait until that final judgement to beg for mercy and ask for forgiveness?
In my thinking, this hurricane is much like our salvation, you are either prepared....or not.
MY BAGS ARE AT THE DOOR WAITING!!!
Psalm 91 NIV
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly presilence.
He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkeness nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with yor eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
If you make the Most High your dwelling-even the LORD, who is my refuge-
then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
VINDICATED
Vindicated-vin-di-cate [vin-di-keyt]
-verb (used with object), -cat.ed, -cat.ing.
1. to clear, as from an accusation, imputation, suspicion, or the like: to vindicate someone's honor.
2. to afford justification for; justify, subsequent events vindicated his policy.
3. to uphold or justify by argument or evidence: to vindicate a claim.
4. to assert, maintain, or defend (a right, cause, etc.) against opposition.
5. to claim for oneself or another
6. Roman and Civil Law to regain possession, under claim of title of property through legal procedure, or to assert one's right to possession.
7. to get revenge for; avenge
8. obsolete. to deliver from; liberate
9. obsolete. to punish
November 2007...He came home heartbroken. His dreams shattered. Eight years of dedication and sacrifice stripped away with his honor, by the choice a man who seen him as just some Bible thumper who did not have his priorities in line, according to a social mind-set though not according to the Word of God. As he walked thru the door, my heart, that had prayed feverently for days and sick with anxiety, was broken as well. The pain on his face made the realization materialize that not only was his dreams and accomplishments in vain but that our family was now in a financial crises though still committed to live this military lifestyle with the exception of the luxuries that we had come to know and depend on.
Knowing that, with all of my sound intentions, I could not comfort my husband at this moment, I resorted to leave him laying in his own despair and thoughts and sit on the back deck, grabbing my Bible in the motion. As I sat with my bible in my lap, I cried out to the God of my hope, my rock, my fortress...my God who did not answer my prayers and grant us our hearts desire in that moment of decision. God why? God why? God WHY??? I screamed in my thoughts as the tears rolled down my face. In hope and faith, I opened by Bible.
Job 12... Okay, this seems appropriate, I guess. So there I began:Job 12:1 " Then Job replied: Doubtless you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!......" God why cant you just give me the answers that I need where I can understand? WHY!? WHY!? and so, I continued reading...Job 12:6 "The tents of marauders are undisturbed, and those who provoke God are secure--those who carry their god in their hands." ~SPLAT~ No, No, God...Why? A bird? REALLY? After all of this today, now a bird is going to POOP on my bible, my most treasured possession!!?? and so I cried..... I took a business card that was in my bible case and carefully scraped the gooey mess from the page opposite of what I was reading and finally found my resolve to continue reading where I left off. Job 12:7 "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;" Huh? No way? In haste I scrolled to the wet spot on the opposite page. Job 13:13 "Keep silent and let me speak; then let come to me what may. Why do I put my life in jeopardy and take my life in my hands? Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverence, for no godless man would dare come near him! Listen carefully to my words; let your ears take in what I say. Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated." Now, with even more haste, I urgently ran to my husband to bring him comfort from God's Word...
Very shortly after, I found out that I was prgnant with our 4th child. After a previous very ill NICU baby, this pregnancy proved to be incredibly difficult both physically and in faith. Because of the trials of the prior November, my husband was able to be present for the pregnancy (both in and out of the hospital), delivery, and NICU stay for our premie baby before deploying for 12 months, a feet that I would have endoured alone if things had not of transpired in the manner that they did.
Now, nearly 3 years later, we have kept the faith through a 12 month deployment, prevailed through yet another difficult pregnancy and sick newborn, and encountered numorous other trials while still clinging to the promise of God. Our 5th baby, Danae (vindicate) Ayana (He answers) Kalin (faithful), is our outward confession of that faith as well as our license plate which reads "VINDKTD" LOL. We trust in God's Word....as we are waiting (still). I cannot wait for the day that we can leap with the joy of our testimony that had made us lame. God has so much in store for us all but we must keep our eyes on Him.
-verb (used with object), -cat.ed, -cat.ing.
1. to clear, as from an accusation, imputation, suspicion, or the like: to vindicate someone's honor.
2. to afford justification for; justify, subsequent events vindicated his policy.
3. to uphold or justify by argument or evidence: to vindicate a claim.
4. to assert, maintain, or defend (a right, cause, etc.) against opposition.
5. to claim for oneself or another
6. Roman and Civil Law to regain possession, under claim of title of property through legal procedure, or to assert one's right to possession.
7. to get revenge for; avenge
8. obsolete. to deliver from; liberate
9. obsolete. to punish
November 2007...He came home heartbroken. His dreams shattered. Eight years of dedication and sacrifice stripped away with his honor, by the choice a man who seen him as just some Bible thumper who did not have his priorities in line, according to a social mind-set though not according to the Word of God. As he walked thru the door, my heart, that had prayed feverently for days and sick with anxiety, was broken as well. The pain on his face made the realization materialize that not only was his dreams and accomplishments in vain but that our family was now in a financial crises though still committed to live this military lifestyle with the exception of the luxuries that we had come to know and depend on.
Knowing that, with all of my sound intentions, I could not comfort my husband at this moment, I resorted to leave him laying in his own despair and thoughts and sit on the back deck, grabbing my Bible in the motion. As I sat with my bible in my lap, I cried out to the God of my hope, my rock, my fortress...my God who did not answer my prayers and grant us our hearts desire in that moment of decision. God why? God why? God WHY??? I screamed in my thoughts as the tears rolled down my face. In hope and faith, I opened by Bible.
Job 12... Okay, this seems appropriate, I guess. So there I began:Job 12:1 " Then Job replied: Doubtless you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!......" God why cant you just give me the answers that I need where I can understand? WHY!? WHY!? and so, I continued reading...Job 12:6 "The tents of marauders are undisturbed, and those who provoke God are secure--those who carry their god in their hands." ~SPLAT~ No, No, God...Why? A bird? REALLY? After all of this today, now a bird is going to POOP on my bible, my most treasured possession!!?? and so I cried..... I took a business card that was in my bible case and carefully scraped the gooey mess from the page opposite of what I was reading and finally found my resolve to continue reading where I left off. Job 12:7 "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;" Huh? No way? In haste I scrolled to the wet spot on the opposite page. Job 13:13 "Keep silent and let me speak; then let come to me what may. Why do I put my life in jeopardy and take my life in my hands? Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverence, for no godless man would dare come near him! Listen carefully to my words; let your ears take in what I say. Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated." Now, with even more haste, I urgently ran to my husband to bring him comfort from God's Word...
Very shortly after, I found out that I was prgnant with our 4th child. After a previous very ill NICU baby, this pregnancy proved to be incredibly difficult both physically and in faith. Because of the trials of the prior November, my husband was able to be present for the pregnancy (both in and out of the hospital), delivery, and NICU stay for our premie baby before deploying for 12 months, a feet that I would have endoured alone if things had not of transpired in the manner that they did.
Now, nearly 3 years later, we have kept the faith through a 12 month deployment, prevailed through yet another difficult pregnancy and sick newborn, and encountered numorous other trials while still clinging to the promise of God. Our 5th baby, Danae (vindicate) Ayana (He answers) Kalin (faithful), is our outward confession of that faith as well as our license plate which reads "VINDKTD" LOL. We trust in God's Word....as we are waiting (still). I cannot wait for the day that we can leap with the joy of our testimony that had made us lame. God has so much in store for us all but we must keep our eyes on Him.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Been So Long
There is a time and season for everything under the sun (eccl 3:1) and knowing this gives me a smidge of comfort in confessing and apologizing for the months that my blog has stayed stagnant. During this season, my crazy yet beautiful life has once again changed drastically. My dear hubby returned home from a year overseas and our family has shared in the loss of our beloved Maggie, but welcomed the two new additions: Sadie, the Mastador, and sweet Dani, the latest and greatest to the Jonesy household, making us now a family of 7 and 2 dogs. We have moved as well; putting our house, on the "charming" Shasta Drive, up for rent and moving closer to Howard's work in hopes of dwindling down on our debt so that we can embark on that next big, great adventure.
So, as we turn another chapter in our lives, I invite you once again to join our journey as we embrace this world head-on sharing the love of Christ, in hopes of impacting the lives around us. Bless you my Friends.
So, as we turn another chapter in our lives, I invite you once again to join our journey as we embrace this world head-on sharing the love of Christ, in hopes of impacting the lives around us. Bless you my Friends.
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Lord knew I needed a laugh today
As a mother of four, two being girls and two being boys, I am finally learning some of the differences in boys and girls that they do not teach you school. I mean, some of the differences are obviously apparent but some...man, are just plain hysterical.
I witnessed one of these differences today that had me bent over laughing so hard that the tears were like a river down my face.
The kids and I spent the majority of our morning consumed with breakfast and chores before we finally sat down to begin our school day. As always, Xander, the free spirit, was joyously romping through the house, climbing on furniture, stealing pencils, climbing atop our backs and just fervently trying to divert our attention from our studies to devote it to him. Always the attention seeker.
Today, our bible studies took us back to the beginning of Genesis to remind us of how mighty our creator really is. How he is so much bigger than our enormously vast universe and how He would take the time to create man, so tiny in comparison to the universe and heavens and yet so precious in His love that He created us in His image. We touched on the image of Jesus and how Jesus was there in the beginning, first being mentioned in Genesis 1:26 "Let us make man in our image," and then in John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." This was a perfect illustration of capital letter usage for proper nouns that are reserved for persons and places. We replaced the name "Word" with "Jesus" and were able to see how Jesus was with God during creation and how Jesus IS God. It was wonderful. But then we read on in Genesis to see how God created Adam a helper and she was a woman.
This was about the time that our little free spirit, who was romping about in nothing but a diaper, decided that it would be fun to explore with a little miniature version of a cooking utensil.
This past Christmas the younger two of the four received a plastic kitchen along with all of the cooking essentials to pretend that they were connoisseurs of the culinary arts. Among these utensils is a slotted spoon that has a looped wire type handle, about 4 inches long and only about 3/4 of an inch wide...the handle, not the whole spoon. Well...as we are studying man and woman, he tuckes the handle of the spoon down the front of the diaper. As I witnessed this from across the room, I told him to take it out, that sticking things down our pants was inappropriate--like he knows what that means! But he did indeed proceed to take it out, only to cringe up his cute little face and cry, "It hurt Mommy." So I apathetically called him to me and latched onto the little spoon to begin pulling it myself but only made him cry more...hmmm, it was time to investigate. Pulling the diaper out to find out why the little spoon caught, I learned another very real difference in little boys and little girls. Why would this happen? Little boys seem to have some interesting fetish with their extra body part. It is like a toy I suppose that can be poked, pulled, and manipulated for shear joy all because the opposite gender is with lack...so I suppose. But for my little free spirit, his whole little manly-hood hung in the balance of being caught, I mean, looped through the slot of the wire handle and was at the mercy of ME, the one trying to pull it out. So the "hook-n-latch" operation had to be unraveled to free him of the obvious pain of his pious situation.
And so, God created man and then created woman, whom by the way, is very much different in all respects!
I witnessed one of these differences today that had me bent over laughing so hard that the tears were like a river down my face.
The kids and I spent the majority of our morning consumed with breakfast and chores before we finally sat down to begin our school day. As always, Xander, the free spirit, was joyously romping through the house, climbing on furniture, stealing pencils, climbing atop our backs and just fervently trying to divert our attention from our studies to devote it to him. Always the attention seeker.
Today, our bible studies took us back to the beginning of Genesis to remind us of how mighty our creator really is. How he is so much bigger than our enormously vast universe and how He would take the time to create man, so tiny in comparison to the universe and heavens and yet so precious in His love that He created us in His image. We touched on the image of Jesus and how Jesus was there in the beginning, first being mentioned in Genesis 1:26 "Let us make man in our image," and then in John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." This was a perfect illustration of capital letter usage for proper nouns that are reserved for persons and places. We replaced the name "Word" with "Jesus" and were able to see how Jesus was with God during creation and how Jesus IS God. It was wonderful. But then we read on in Genesis to see how God created Adam a helper and she was a woman.
This was about the time that our little free spirit, who was romping about in nothing but a diaper, decided that it would be fun to explore with a little miniature version of a cooking utensil.
This past Christmas the younger two of the four received a plastic kitchen along with all of the cooking essentials to pretend that they were connoisseurs of the culinary arts. Among these utensils is a slotted spoon that has a looped wire type handle, about 4 inches long and only about 3/4 of an inch wide...the handle, not the whole spoon. Well...as we are studying man and woman, he tuckes the handle of the spoon down the front of the diaper. As I witnessed this from across the room, I told him to take it out, that sticking things down our pants was inappropriate--like he knows what that means! But he did indeed proceed to take it out, only to cringe up his cute little face and cry, "It hurt Mommy." So I apathetically called him to me and latched onto the little spoon to begin pulling it myself but only made him cry more...hmmm, it was time to investigate. Pulling the diaper out to find out why the little spoon caught, I learned another very real difference in little boys and little girls. Why would this happen? Little boys seem to have some interesting fetish with their extra body part. It is like a toy I suppose that can be poked, pulled, and manipulated for shear joy all because the opposite gender is with lack...so I suppose. But for my little free spirit, his whole little manly-hood hung in the balance of being caught, I mean, looped through the slot of the wire handle and was at the mercy of ME, the one trying to pull it out. So the "hook-n-latch" operation had to be unraveled to free him of the obvious pain of his pious situation.
And so, God created man and then created woman, whom by the way, is very much different in all respects!
Monday, March 2, 2009
I WAS defeated
WOW! Today was one of those days...One of those hair-raising, frustrating, make you wanna quit days. It was a day that I had to literally call upon the Lord to just get our math done. No one ever said that homeschooling the children would be easy,in fact, I new prior to the commitment that it would be the hardest endeavour that I would ever embark upon.
This morning we awoke to a beautiful white landscaped yard. The brilliant white was enormously enticing to the kids so I used it to my advantage, knowing full-well that kids almost always have one up on the parents. But I did anyway and encouraged the kids to speed thru their chores and hop right onto school work so that they could play outside.
In the beginning, it was going great. They were motivated beyond motivation. But soon the neighbor kids were all in the street and in the creek behind the house sliding down inclines and throwing snowballs. My children eagerly watched out the window and tried to focus. It was very hard for them but they were doing so well. But as it usually does, the good has its end and we started to struggle. I would help one child as the other would pout because they were stuck and needed my help as well.It was a very stressful predicament. They had so much bottled up intensity and anxiety over getting finished that they became frustrated when "teacher-mom" couldn't help them as quickly as they had hoped because I was in the process of helping their sibling,not to mention, carrying around an infant and occupying and two-year old. More stress than I bargained for over manipulating this little snow day. FOR SURE. But soon enough they were done.
So once again, I was reminded today that God's grace is sufficient. It was frustrating to a point that I wondered why I was battling to home school my two oldest children while I had two demanding young ones at my feet vying for my attention as well. God reminded me that when he blessed me with children, he was putting their training and future in my hands. That this is not a task that I can lightly passed off to someone that I do not know because ultimately, it is MY responsibility to train my children up in the way that they should go because God promises that if I am diligent to do so that they will not depart from that. With such a hefty promise, if I were to expect someone else to train my children, then what will I have to complain about when they are teenagers and I can't control them...it would be on my head, if they want to rebel against me, I want to know full-well that I did EVERYTHING in my power to raise them right. Their salvation is MY responsibility as their parent and God gives me the opportunity to chose who my children are subjected to and what kinds of influences they are around. Not saying that I am hoping that this is the key to having godly young adults, but I do believe that it is a help. That showing the kids that I love God and them so much that I lovingly and gladly take on that full role and responsibility, carrying the full weight of their upbringing upon my shoulders, and that choosing the influences whom they come encounter with, as well as, ensuring that they have vast interaction with other children who are being raised in christian homes. I pray that these efforts will encourage my children to grow in love that is so lacking in our society and culture.
Please, readers, don't think that I am short-changing you if you have your children in public school, I am in no way judging you. I am solely expressing my conviction on raising my children. The conviction that I was reminded of today as well as multiple day of our school year.
So, off of my box...sorry about that. My point for blogging tonight is just that in the midst of defeated thoughts God's grace was there. HE was there. He gave me the grace to get through our school work with our sanity--at least part of it, and he reminded why I chose to do it in the first place, giving me a renewed strength.
I know that my situation may seem trivial to some of you, but I know that all can relate. In those moments that we feel like it just isn't worth continuing, when we want to walk away, walk out the door, drive off and forget. Just give up. God is there. He is always there. I have a vision of a bee in a glass jar...bear with me...but think for a moment of a bee contained in the glass jar. You can faintly hear him buzzing inside as he whizzes around searching for an escape route, but then when you take the lid off, immediately, you can distinctively hear the sound of his wings...buzzzzzzzz. Got the picture? So now apply that in those moments of defeat, take the lid off of God and listen to him buzz as he renews you. Ask him for ears that hear his voice and for his peace amidst the chaos. He is ever so faithful to do so. He ROCKS!
This morning we awoke to a beautiful white landscaped yard. The brilliant white was enormously enticing to the kids so I used it to my advantage, knowing full-well that kids almost always have one up on the parents. But I did anyway and encouraged the kids to speed thru their chores and hop right onto school work so that they could play outside.
In the beginning, it was going great. They were motivated beyond motivation. But soon the neighbor kids were all in the street and in the creek behind the house sliding down inclines and throwing snowballs. My children eagerly watched out the window and tried to focus. It was very hard for them but they were doing so well. But as it usually does, the good has its end and we started to struggle. I would help one child as the other would pout because they were stuck and needed my help as well.It was a very stressful predicament. They had so much bottled up intensity and anxiety over getting finished that they became frustrated when "teacher-mom" couldn't help them as quickly as they had hoped because I was in the process of helping their sibling,not to mention, carrying around an infant and occupying and two-year old. More stress than I bargained for over manipulating this little snow day. FOR SURE. But soon enough they were done.
So once again, I was reminded today that God's grace is sufficient. It was frustrating to a point that I wondered why I was battling to home school my two oldest children while I had two demanding young ones at my feet vying for my attention as well. God reminded me that when he blessed me with children, he was putting their training and future in my hands. That this is not a task that I can lightly passed off to someone that I do not know because ultimately, it is MY responsibility to train my children up in the way that they should go because God promises that if I am diligent to do so that they will not depart from that. With such a hefty promise, if I were to expect someone else to train my children, then what will I have to complain about when they are teenagers and I can't control them...it would be on my head, if they want to rebel against me, I want to know full-well that I did EVERYTHING in my power to raise them right. Their salvation is MY responsibility as their parent and God gives me the opportunity to chose who my children are subjected to and what kinds of influences they are around. Not saying that I am hoping that this is the key to having godly young adults, but I do believe that it is a help. That showing the kids that I love God and them so much that I lovingly and gladly take on that full role and responsibility, carrying the full weight of their upbringing upon my shoulders, and that choosing the influences whom they come encounter with, as well as, ensuring that they have vast interaction with other children who are being raised in christian homes. I pray that these efforts will encourage my children to grow in love that is so lacking in our society and culture.
Please, readers, don't think that I am short-changing you if you have your children in public school, I am in no way judging you. I am solely expressing my conviction on raising my children. The conviction that I was reminded of today as well as multiple day of our school year.
So, off of my box...sorry about that. My point for blogging tonight is just that in the midst of defeated thoughts God's grace was there. HE was there. He gave me the grace to get through our school work with our sanity--at least part of it, and he reminded why I chose to do it in the first place, giving me a renewed strength.
I know that my situation may seem trivial to some of you, but I know that all can relate. In those moments that we feel like it just isn't worth continuing, when we want to walk away, walk out the door, drive off and forget. Just give up. God is there. He is always there. I have a vision of a bee in a glass jar...bear with me...but think for a moment of a bee contained in the glass jar. You can faintly hear him buzzing inside as he whizzes around searching for an escape route, but then when you take the lid off, immediately, you can distinctively hear the sound of his wings...buzzzzzzzz. Got the picture? So now apply that in those moments of defeat, take the lid off of God and listen to him buzz as he renews you. Ask him for ears that hear his voice and for his peace amidst the chaos. He is ever so faithful to do so. He ROCKS!
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