Monday, November 28, 2011

Finally...

Finally it happened... for the first time in 40 years my father was real, though only just for a moment.  In that one moment I saw a hopeless man haunted by his past, quickly taking refuge in the only living beings that give him solace- his pets.  He is not a believer, and in fact has on many occasions has expressed his anger at God for the things he witnessed during his two tours in Vietnam, once even telling me there is no god.  He's getting older and facing the reality that he's deteriorating physically and changing mentally a bit as well.  My stepmother is worried about the beginning phases of  Alzheimer's Disease (Dad's uncle had Alzheimer's), and has recommended he go in for testing (to which he actually agreed-so unlike my very obstinate father).  Perhaps the most surprising aspect of all this is that for the first time I saw very deeply just how badly my father needs Jesus.  I've prayed for both my dad and stepmom over the years for their salvation, but I've never had a spiritual burden for them.  I do, now.  I'm ashamed that I've been so hard-hearted- toward my dad specifically- having had to wrestle through some of my own selfishness, anger, and bitterness toward him in my early-to-mid-thirties (yes, I'm a late bloomer when it comes to working through my baggage).  Now, though, my prayers carry and desperation and fervency that they haven't in the past for their salvation...  Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father, but by Me." ~John 14:6...  If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed ~  John 8:36

Grace and Peace

W

Friday, November 25, 2011

Week in Review & A Look Ahead...

Well, it's been a little while since my last post, but as it's Friday evening, I thought I'd review the week and take a look ahead at the one coming up.  I've been so very blah lately... lately... actually it seems as though it's been much longer than lately... my passion, that burning fire within me has mysteriously vanished!  My passion for home educating our children, my passion for teaching/helping in children's ministry, my passion for plugging into our homeschool group and helping out, and my passion for keeping our home... all of it - gone.  However, this week has been such a relief as we've taken it mostly off from our formal lessons (except for math), and we've been able to concentrate on cleaning, baking, a couple of crafts and overall preparing for Thanksgiving and then Christmas decorating.  I'm continuing to pray that the Lord will guide me through this 'funk' that I'm in, and I will continue to serve Him faithfully and completely through it... 

Next week we're back at it full force, and we'll be studying the Names of Christ for our devotion time between now and Christmas:  Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, King of Kings, Lord of Lords.  We have a field trip on Tuesday morning at the Library for the kids to learn about the inner-workings of it all, Awana on Wednesday night, and cleaning and piano lessons on Thursday. 

In Him

W

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Peace...

Well, it's official... winter is here and Thanksgiving is only one week away.  It's the time of year when we all dwell a little more on the things we're thankful for, and many are participating in a 30-ish days of thankfulness on Facebook- present company included.  While it's true that I'm very thankful for our everyday conveniences like running water, the physical ability to bend over and put on my socks, our dog (yes, it's true, I love our dog so very much, she's a part of our family and the best dog every), our vehicles and the many material items the Lord has provided;  and while it's true that I'm grateful to the Lord for bringing me my husband, and giving us our two boys (though we would have loved it if He would have blessed us with a couple more), for my parents and in-laws;  and while it's true that I'm so thankful and humbled by the fact that salvation was granted to a sinner such as myself, the thing I'm most thankful for is the peace of our Lord that surpasses all understanding. 


I love this verse from Romans 15:13 ~  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

It's a peace that comes directly from God, the God of hope.  Without it, I know for certain I wouldn't be able to live this life the Lord has planned for me.  The love God has for His children, that He would give us such a precious gift as His peace, joy, hope, love, is so dear to me... I don't even have words to describe it.
 
So anyway, as I move into this holiday season with all of its hustle and bustle, the shopping, traveling from one family function to another, wishing for everyone to be happy, I'm so very thankful for the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.  Romans 15:13, that is my prayer for this season of life.

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (2 Peter1:2)

W

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Saturday, November 12, 2011

Eureka!

Yes!  I'm so excited... my dear husband and I came up with our Christmas gift plan for our 2 boys!  Several years ago, my dh was out of work so we had to be very creative with the few gifts we gave our boys...  I have to say the Lord has blessed us with so many wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ who gifted our boys that year... anyway, I digress.  That year one thing we gave to our boys was a book for each of them that I had written.  They love those books to this day and have no idea that I wrote them only because we couldn't afford to give them much else.  (For several years now we've had the opportunity to pay it forward to other needy families, and to gift our own children as well- I'm so very thankful for both of those things!)  For the past couple (at least) of years for Christmas and birthdays the boys have been asking me to write them another book, but I just haven't been all that inspired to do that- a severe case of writer's block is what I've been plagued with- on top of the fact that they aren't 3 & 5 anymore, so the story lines have to actually make a little more sense than they did all those years ago.  :)  This morning just before I got up, it hit me... the beginning and ending of one of the books I'll write this year... I even think I might, just might, try my hand at illustrating as well.  Where did this sudden burst of inspiration come from you ask?  (Or maybe you didn't ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway...) 

The Lord uses all different means of communicating to His children, you see...  So, I was reading a blog post written by one of my favorite homeschool authors, Sally Clarkson, in which she was writing about how their family had put together 'Memory Boxes' for each of their children.  In these Memory Boxes were kept favorite cards, drawings, small keepsakes, photos- anything special to that particular child.  These boxes were to represent the child's history, to tell their life stories and to be pulled out when the child was sick, or down, or whenever it would be fun for him/her to take a stroll down memory lane... and so is born the concept for the books I'm writing for our blessings from Heaven.  I'm toying with the idea of writing the stories as historical fiction... they are boys who love and desire a large dose of adventure...

Blessings

W

Sunday, November 6, 2011

A Week in Review and A Look Ahead...

Looking back, it's been another amazing week...  The Lord is ever faithful and the physical evidence of His tender mercies on His children never cease to amaze me.

Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds. ~Psalm 36:5

I purposely scheduled a light school week for the boys, mostly because I knew that I'd be a little stressed with my Mother's surgery this week and would have some added responsibilities.  So, they had a 3-day week of Math, Writing and Language Arts, and Reading time and that's it... actually, it was good timing for a long weekend for all of us even though we're coming up on Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

So that was our early part of the week.  Thursday found me unrested, but with enough energy to deliver my dear Mother to the hospital safely.  I have to admit that I was hoping to find a nook or cranny w/ a couch so I could take a nap, but that was not to be.  :(   I was very thankful to our awesome Pastors who came up and visited w/ Mother and me and prayed over her.... I just can't wait until I'm standing before the Lord and He shows me all the ways prayer impacted my life either directly or indirectly...  I ended up leaving the hospital around 4p.m. or so, after Mother was snugly tucked in her bed and ready for a rest..one would have thought I would have slept well that night, but not so... I ended up with a terrible migraine- truly I thought my head was going to explode.  Anyway, Friday morning, was a quick throw together dinner in the crock-pot for my Step-dad & his mother (who lives with them), then back up to the hospital (an hour away) to bring Mother home...  Saturday was a fun-filled day, our 8y/o had football at the Y, grocery shopping, and then a few awesome games of Settlers of Catan w/ friends.  All in all it was a good, yet very busy, week.

A look ahead...

I'm looking forward to this being a much more relaxed week... or at least 'normal' (whatever that means).  :)  Mother isn't supposed to drive for the next couple of weeks, so I offered to come and get her if she needed to head to church to get some work done (I'm really hoping she doesn't try to drive) which would probably be Wednesday...did I say 'normal'?   :)

Blessings

 

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Amazing...

It's going to be amazing (to say the least) someday standing before the Lord when He reveals to us all the wonderful prayers He's answered... all the disasters we were protected from...all the sweet blessings He's bestowed upon us just because He can...
Mom had her back surgery today, went through it wonderfully, and was doing very well after she was taken to her room  - all of which she attributed to the many prayers on her behalf...