summer into winter

Around here we just jump right from 80 degrees to 32.  One day you'll find us at the park in shorts, the next day we dig out sweaters and gloves.  It's hard for the cat to keep up his coat!

Hansel and Gretel were not home.

Then next Olympic sport, synchronized swinging.

Boy in a cage; he's smiling now....

Some girls did not have fun!

Some girls just looked funny!

And then there was some puppy smoochin' goin' on.

This morning we woke up to ice in the pool - yikes!

When it's cold I like to make soup.  I call it Man Soup, that gets all of them to eat it!

Man Soup

1 pound smoked sausage, or turkey sausage/kielbasa, sliced in 1/4 slices

1 onion chopped

2 14oz cans stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 16oz can pink beans, drained

1 16oz can kidney beans, drained

1 box frozen spinach

1 TBL. chicken bullion

3 potatoes sliced thinly

Brown the sausage, add onion, cook until translucent.  Add everything else but the spinach.  simmer 45 minutes or so.  Add spinach, simmer until it's all hot. 

This is yummy and good for everybody!

Are you ramping up to buy stuff?

Many Americans will head out on Friday to buy stuff they don't need, or stuff that other people don't need.  Some stores are even opening up on Thursday night so these spenders can get started even earlier.  This makes me sad. 

Have we, as a whole, become so consumeristic that we are shortening our day set aside for Thanksgiving?

And those bargains you might find at Wal Mart?  Someone paid for those already.  In low wages, or no wages, in terrible work conditions, in long 10-12 hour days, 7 days in a week. 

I am not saying we should not buy anything.  But please use wisdom.  Ask God to guide you as you shop; He cares about everything you do.

Happy Thanksgiving!

the crick in my neck

Our previous home was small and cozy; we all loved that house on acreage, privacy all around - no one to wake up if the trampoline craze struck the boys at 6am. 

I miss the kitchen sink.  Really.  It faced the window, which faced the long winding driveway.  As I stood doing dishes I could watch for Man to come down our drive, homestretch, me at the end. 

In this house my back is to the window when I'm at the sink.  I turn constantly to look out the window, wishing my man home.  Like today, I know he's not on his way home at 2pm, but I turn and look just the same, every few minutes.  Silly?  Not at all.  I'm crazy about my Man.  There is no earthly being I would rather be with than my Man.  I like to just say it: my Man, my Man....

Not many women can understand this, at least that is my assumption based upon overhearing conversations, observations, and being told on occasion that I need my "me time".  What the heck is that?  Me time?  I never know how to respond to that unsolicited advice.

A few weeks ago a friend recommended a book to me (and to A); the book is called Created to be His Help Meet by Debi Pearl.  Debi is a no nonsense gal!  Wew, most ladies I know would soon be chucking this book.  I like her!  Of course it's easy to like an author who affirms your lifestyle and beliefs.   

Debi tells me it's okay that I am crazy about my Man, that I stay home, that we homeschool, that I am 43 and my hair is long and getting longer! 

God made me to be a help meet, to help meet needs.  And He made me just right for my Man.  My calling is to serve my husband, then my kids, then others.  Not myself, not my girl friends.  Serve.  Now that's not a popular word coming from most wives, at least not in a nice way. 

I find myself mostly satisfied when I meet the needs of my family.  I have to admit the mostly part because at times I pitch a little fit.  At times I do want kuddos, or praise, but then I just feel silly.  I'm not perfect.

A merry heart is good medicine.  It's good for me, my Man and my family.  When I lose the merriment and get cranky no good comes of it.  But when I choose joy, then I find joy.  It's like faith, I can step out in faith and pretty soon I can see that the choice was lined up by God all along!

God stands with you when you stand by your man.  Remember that when your man disappoints you next time.  You serve God by serving the man He chose for you. 

giving thanks

I have lots to talk about, but not much time this week.  So here are a few pictures of things in my life that I am most thankful for.

I'll write later.

gifts

God is the ultimate gift giver.

Even when I fall so far short I can't stand myself; He showers gifts on me.

He delights in being the Giver of Good things.  Reminding me constantly that He has a good plan for my life.

When I hesitated to settle my heart on the Philippines, because for some reason I had upon this heart the desire to serve a people who would be considered black (I know, that's odd, but He is in the details); He pointed us to the Ati people.  A negrito tribal group among the least reached people of the world.  A black people, in the Philippines.  Putting my heart at rest, assurance of directional correctness. 

The worship music at our church is above measure.  I knew that I would miss it greatly. But then came the news that our church had recorded a worship album, it comes out December 6th.   A gift just for me.

We have wondered about training.  For our family of 7 to attend training in Colorado at Mission Training Institute, the cost would be $12,000.  Not realistic, highly valuable I'm sure, but not in our budget. 

So I asked our friends at Launch 150 in North Carolina how they serve their neighborhood.  T sent me hundreds of pages of materials they use.  T4T, the Bible as story; how to reach people without written language with the Gospel - using storytelling. 

Now I've been told that a T4T trainer will be at a conference Man and I are attending.  Thus we know with confidence that T4T is the training choice for us = reassurance. 

Propaganda, a guy who's videos you can find on my blog (via youtube), is going to be at the same conference.  I just learned that on Monday.  So God put this guy in my line of site, drew my heart out, stretched it with Propaganda's challenges.  He of course knew all along that Propaganda would be performing at the same conference noted above.  Assurance that my connecting with this guy's message is correct. 

God works this way in  my life.  There are so many examples where I stepped out without having the answers up front, and then He put answers in my path, then provided confirmation, so I would know my faith was being put in the right place. 

But first I had to step out. 

This week's update on the Ati land purchase on the Island of Panay is good news.  The land has been paid for!  Yeah.  Now teams for construction are being sought.  Of course man will be working there on the planned buildings, but lots of help is needed.  This is from Tori:

The Ati people are a minority tribe living in poverty and isolation on the island of Panay in the Philippines.  They have dark skin and curly hair, and they are similar to the Aborigines living in Australia. Rejected by the majority of the population, four Ati clans live on a mountain side with no school, poor nutrition and health care, and little knowledge of Jesus Christ.   We were shocked when we found these Ati, who lived so geographically close to us, but were completely isolated from the larger society. 

Along with our Filipino co-workers we began to visit three times a week; to feed the Ati mothers and children with nutritious food, establish a relationship with them by telling them about Christ and the hope of Salvation.  From these visits a strong desire grew in our hearts to communicate the message of Jesus Christ to the Ati people not only in words but in action, so the Ati would have hope and a better way of life.  Now, we have already purchased land where the Ati live.  We will soon start constructing the first school building for the Ati children, a powerful symbol of God’s love and hope for their future.

We ask you to pray for the work amidst these people.  We are also asking for anyone with willing hearts and hands to come and help with a short term mission team to help with the construction of the school and orphanage or come to help with outreach to the Ati children. If you can not come, could you help by purchasing construction materials? 

If you can help let us know.

facts or beliefs?

I've been re-reading articles from christianhomeschool.us.  This site has some great resources to help you get, and keep things in perspective.

As a homeschool parent it is easy to get sucked into the world's way of educating.  We can forget our purpose, and before you know it, we look like the local public school, just smaller and with less money.

Israel Wayne puts it like this:
"What a child knows is really insignificant compared to what he or she believes.  It is vital that our kids know:

1. What they believe.
2. Why their beliefs are true.
3. How to articulate their beliefs.
4. How to live their beliefs consistently."

He goes on to say "nothing is so important that it overrides our relationship with God and each other." 

"Are all the programs we are involved with bringing us closer to God and each other, or mostly wearing us out?"

In another article by Judith Kowles I hi-lighted and underlined her statement that:

"God is impressing upon us (her and her husband) that academic achievement is not His main concern.  God's main concern is that our children end up with hearts consecrated to Him." 

Be a relaxed homeschooler - I love that.  Now that I'm 43 I'm kind of trying to learn to relax.  I hope that by the time I'm 80 I will be totally okay with napping and drooling in the living room while the grandkids play. 

Marilyn Howshall believes that "true education is teaching children how to learn, equipping them to learn, and guiding them into their specific life-purpose by God's design."  Wow!  Is that all I need to do, piece of cake - kidding. 

Note to self - my purpose in teaching my boys is to help them find their purpose in Jesus.   So that they can figure out what good plan God has for them. 

Now I am not saying that reading, writing and math is not important.  We all need the basics.  But does my 9 year old need to understand NAFTA?  Does my 11 year old need Algebra.  No.  Not to be repetitious, but No.  and No again. 

A good barometer to use is this from Maggie Hogan:

1. Did my children learn?
2. Do they want to learn more?
3. Was God honored in our home?

Yes, yes and yes?   good job!
Go get some icecream.

Kids in our nature study class took the above 5 pictures.  Kids love to be outside!

Go Outside.

5 and for sale - in Houston

Please read this, to the end.  They deserve for you to feel uncomfortable, they deserve your tears, your prayers and your action!

Slavery, trafficking.  No matter what you call it, it is evil.  And it's growing.

The numbers are haunting:

1.2 millionNumber of children trafficked each year for sex around the world. (UNICEF)

11Average age of sex workers around the world. Some are as young as 5 years old. (CIA)

100,000Number of children and young women who are trafficked in America today. They range in age from 9 to 19, with the average age being 11. (FBI/ABC News)

200,000Number of U.S. children at risk for commercial sexual exploitation. (US Department of Justice)

30Number of years that U.S. citizens can spend in prison if they’re convicted of traveling to another country and engage in child sexual tourism. (US State Department)

$9.5 billionAmount of money generated annually by human trafficking. (FBI)

3rdRanking of human trafficking among all income-generating syndicates (drugs and guns hold the top spots). (Stop the Traffic)

We can change these statistics.

For information on how you can help refer to the links on the right under Slavery.

Recently, as in the past month, undercover aid workers who routinely scour the city of Houston for trafficked children where offered a

5 year old girl, for the night, to share, for $90. 

They were able to make off with the girl and she is now in a safe place under the protection of the FBI.  She is from Germany. 

Does the fact that she is German make a difference in your processing?  For some reason it did to me, and that makes me sad.  As if another culture, country, or color would be less horrific. 

religion or the Gospel

Church this morning challenged, stretched, taught; I thank God that that is normal for our church.  

Do you practice religion or live the Gospel?  I confess that I waiver.   Most Christians practice religion, on Sunday for an hour, they do not live the Gospel. 

Every other world religion is defined by a person doing his or her best and hoping that it's good enough.

Only in Christianity do we admit our sin, and accept that Jesus took our punishment.  Romans 5:8-9 while we sinned Christ died for us.  Justified us - declared us not guilty, righteous forever, through Him. (my paraphrasing)

Religion= I obey so I can be accepted.

The Gospel = I am accepted, therefore I obey. 

Did you get that?  read it again, it's good.

I choose to die to myself, I want to abandon it all for Him, because of my overflowing gratitude for all that He has done and will do for me.  Stinky, selfish, short fused, me.

And what is it that I obey?  What does Jesus ask? 

We are to learn and become disciples so that we can make disciples who make disciples, all the way to the ends of the earth, in all languages and people groups.   To what end?  Worship

It's as easy and as complicated as that.  Do we do this on our own?  No, we do it with His power.  Serve the King of kings so that others can join in the service and worship Him. 

I'm finding so much on youtube to inspire me.  I hope we can get reliable internet on Boracay!

May you OVERFLOW with gratitude today.

Teach a man to fish and all that

Aid is a hot topic.  Does it work?  Usually financial handouts alone do not lift people out of poverty. 

They need Hope - the message of the Good News.

They need education, a long term investment.

They need job training.

Ideally the attitude of a helper is to work him/herself out of a job.  For a missionary to no longer be needed in an area, thus able to move to another area, is the goal. 

There are some awesome people doing this, and doing it really well.

One of my favorites is Krochet Kids.  A company started by some college dudes (yes, dudes) who started crocheting beanie type hats and were making bucks doing it. They then wondered about the billions of dollars in aid being doled out around the world, and the fact that it did not seem to help.  That is the very short version. 

These guys started up Krochet Kids to help poor folks lift themselves out of poverty by keeping up a sustainable job. 

A gorgeous family from North Carolina just started up the Peru Krochet Kids:

I have been pondering what we can teach folks in the Philippines, those who want to learn.  Man can teach woodworking skills, trim work, carpentry - the works of his hands.

Folks here have been generous in sharing ideas.  One that I'm most excited about is cobra bracelets.  My boys can make these.  They are made from para chord and have about 8 feet of chord, heavy duty stuff.  The chord is braided in a cobra weave, then worn as a bracelet to be used for a variety of purposes.  Once unwoven (a simple thing to do) you have:
a tourniquet
dog leash
emergency climbing rope
tie up a dead critter for gutting
make a critter trap if you are super hungry

These look cool and will appeal to many of the young tourists on the island. 

I'm learning to fish paint, or paint with fish.  An ancient Japanese art.  You paint a dead fish, then press paper to it, peel the paper off, and you get a beautiful print.  Great for those tourists who catch fish that they can't bring home, but they can bring home a cool, unique art print!

Teach a man to paint with a fish, give him a lake.

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Humble

We are to walk humbly with our Creator.

What does that look like?  Where does He walk?

Micah 6:8 messes with me, it's those tears again.

...O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what He requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. 
Micah 6:8

My heart just swells right up and pushes tears down my face.  He requires these of us, His followers.  These are not suggestions. 

Do what is right.
Love Mercy.  Mercy is not giving someone what they deserve.  In other words, you not getting punished when you deserve it.  I'm supposed to love mercy. 

Then that last one, walk humbly with my God. 
Where does He walk?  Looking at Him in the New Testament it looks like He spent the bulk of his time with the poor, the hungry, the sick, the sinners, the lost, the meek, the working class folks. 

So if I want to walk with Him, I need to go where He's at.  Now of course He is everywhere.  But I believe for me, my heart's desire is to walk with Him in the hard places. 

He plants the desires in my heart, and unless I seek to satisfy those desires, I will be restless on this earth for my whole life. 

I really love the above song.  Be sure to pause my music stuff on the right, so you can enjoy Josh' song.  I pulled it off the Livesay's blog - such cutting edge folks!

And a bit of art.  It is all connected, as are we all connected. 

So how can I sell it all and move across the world to care for strangers, to love them, to get dirty with them?  BECAUSE they are my family. 

We are so excited to be selling and giving it away.  I can't explain it to most people, but we are totally at peace - more peaceful than ever before - and we are jumping into the unknown in faith.  How awesome is He!