I would like to nominate my own my mother and teacher for the Home-Educator Appreciation Day. My mother has been home-educating me and my siblings for 21 years now. Three are already off to college and many more to go (including me in a year and half, Oh My!).
In my view, a mother is the best teacher you could ever find. Everyday I learn something from her and what I really like is that I see her as an example. An example in almost everything she does, especially when she shows her character, a character that shows that God is #1 in her life. My mom’s character is reflected in all her actions and she has always taught my sisters, my brothers, and me how we should act in a way that glorifies and honors the Lord. I’m also so thankful that my family and I are close and daily seek to grow in the Lord together!
I’m so thankful for Mom’s daily perseverance and love in teaching me and my siblings at home. Thank you MOM!!!
Be sure to head on over to http://www.growingingraceonline.com/ and nominate you teacher or someone else. It ends November 30th so head on over quickly!!
Miss Emily Rose is giving away a beautiful apron that you could possibly win. All you have to do is go to Miss Emily Rose blog and post a comment telling one random fact about yourself. It will end on Saturday, November 15 @ 7pm EST. The winner will be selected randomly that evening, and will be announced shortly after. So hurry up and stop by soon and enter!!
Just awhile ago I reading these actual news clippings from around the world:
o "Fishermen in Russia's Far East have been buying up Chinese-made Barbie dolls and using their golden hair as bait."
o "A man from Saegertown, Pa., was tired of looking at two telephone service boxes at the edge of his property, so he ripped them up with a tractor. The state police noted the man couldn't be reached for comment; his phone is no longer in service."
o "A motorist led officers on a freeway chase until his sport-utility vehicle ran out of gas, but the pursuit didn't end there. The man jumped out of his SUV and began pushing it. California Highway Patrol officers waited until he got tired and then arrested him."
It's hard to believe these actual news clippings were pulled from a wire service. Have you ever wondered what would happen if Christians had a wire service? What if anyone, at any time, could tap into a wire service and pull information from it about your spiritual life?
What would they read?
o Seventeen-year-old Christian says God is the most important thing in his life, but he hasn't read the Bible in months. Says he can't find it.
o Nineteen-year-old female disciple was seen tailing an elderly woman driver and angry because she was going too slow.
o Sixteen-year-old president of Fellowship of Christian Athletes received $1.00 more in change than he should have at Wal-Mart. After he pocketed the money, he turned to his friends and said, “You could tell it was her first day on the job. Serves her right.”
Or would people be able to pick up positive news about you? Clippings that tell about your integrity, your character and your commitment to stand up for Christ? Though there really isn't any such wire service for Christian actions, isn't it enough to know that your heavenly Father sees all, hears all and knows all?
Before I close be sure to stop by and cast your votes!
God understands the things in your life that irritate you and me. But sometimes it helps to write them down. So I took some time and wrote up a list with a few things that irritate me:
• Having to explain to six different sales people that you're just looking around.
• Reaching under the table to pick something off the floor and banging your head on the way up.
• Losing my cell phone . . . for the third time in the same day.
• The radio station you're listening to doesn't tell you who sang that song you're dying to purchase.
• Accidentally leaving a Kleenex in your pocket and having to pull the entire load out of the dryer covered with bits of lint.
• You had that pen in your hand just a second ago, and now you can't find it anywhere!
• Setting the alarm on your clock radio for 7 p.m. instead of 7 a.m.
• Putting lotion on your hands and not being able to open the bathroom door.
• Getting interrupted in the middle of your story.
• Having your glasses slide down your nose when you get hot.
• Leaving your notes somewhere else.
• Having 13 people in one day say, “What's wrong?”
• Being late for an appointment, church, or anything.
You can probably add at least a dozen more things to my list (or maybe some of these things don’t irritate you like they do me), and as frustrating as the little things in life can be, we can draw encouragement from the fact that God really does understand. Isn't it refreshing to know that Jesus, too, had to deal with misplacing a sandal and possibly forgetting to feed the cows once in a while? He knew what it was like to be human, because He chose to become human and walk through the same feelings of frustration you experience today. Instead of becoming overwhelmed at those little irritating things in life that tend to trip us up, rejoice in the fact that you're not alone. The Creator of the universe knows exactly how you feel!
I’m thankful for blue-sky Sundays, rainy days when I can sleep in, stars all over the sky, first snowfalls, and rows and rows of gray mountains. I’m thankful for city skylines, gorgeous paintings and friends who love me and look out for me. I’m thankful for strong hugs hello and sad hugs goodbye.
I’m thankful for nights I write so much that I see the first glimpse of sunrise. I’m thankful for music—endless, amazing, wonderful music to match every mood. Life deserves a soundtrack, don’t you think? I’m thankful for the most fun, wackiest family a girl could have. I have parents who tell me they love me every day, brothers who have become one of my favorite friends and sisters who let me talk about the same things over and over.
I’m thankful for cell phones and e-mails, for calls and notes, and mixed CDs, even when life gets busy. I’m thankful for inside jokes I have with my best friend. I’m thankful I live in a place with such amazing doctors, wonderful home education and the freedom to worship the way I want. I’m thankful for my scars. I’m thankful for great novels, good movies and sweet poetry.
I’m thankful for mall trips, old movies, glasses. I’m thankful for people who challenge my thinking and people who make me laugh. I’m grateful for freedom, and for men and women who defend those rights. I’m thankful for cold days and classical music.
If thankfulness were a fireworks show, this would be the grand finale: I’m thankful for the indescribable love of a sovereign God who is so involved in my life. That’s the relationship that sets my heart and imagination on fire, which shines a light on all my darkness, which fills me up with purpose, promise and worth. When change happens, He holds on to me. When tragedy comes out of nowhere, He holds on to me. In my most wonderful moments and my most tragic moments, I’m safe in the arms of a God who will never let me go. Because of Him, every moment matters. I can’t think of a better way to explain what He means to us than by living lives sold out to Him.
Before I close, please keep my dad in your prayers. He is heading off today (10-10-08) to Switzerland for 2 weeks. He use to go there all the time for work but that was 6 years ago. This trip is not for work reasons but to see doctors down there for his eyes. Some of you may have know but if you didn't, my dad is legally blind and is out on disability. Please pray for safety and wisdom for the doctors. Thank you so much for your prayers!
On Tuesday I started the Feelin' Feminine Challenge. This time I will be posting pictures everyday so be sure to stop by and check them out. At the end of seven days I will write my thoughts on the challenge.
Sorry pics are so messed up...will try and get that fixed soon :)
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:
Monday:
Also two of the ladies who participate in this week’s challenge will be entered in a chance to win a pattern of their choice from Sense & Sensibility.
I’m not a sidelines kind of girl. I like to be all there, wherever there is, and I have a habit of taking on a ton of projects at once. Like every other person I know, I’m busy — sometimes too busy.
I think we’ve gotten into this bad habit of busyness. I have noticed this a lot in my own personal life. There is a pattern in almost every conversation I have with my friends. We say hi then move right into the “I’m-busier-than- you” game.My friends and I rattle off endless lists of what we do, because somehow in our little world, that list of to- do’s has become important and status-filled. We act exhausted (and sometimes it’s no act!); we talk about how we feel drained and tired all the time. If I had a quarter for every time I, or someone I know, have uttered the words “I’m soooooo busy,” I could buy enough caramel apples to feed my youth group.
I’m not saying busyness is wrong. Filling our time with activities that matter, to passionately pursue the dreams God has put in us, is good. But lately one verse keeps showing up that has struck me:
Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).
Can I not know He is God when I’m busy? When I’m bouncing from activity to activity? Can we not know He’s God when we’re writing papers, talking on the phone, doing chores or going to sports?
I love that God is God of my whole life. He’s into all the details. I can glorify Him through every bit of my life. But He wants to give me something in those quiet moments: a promise, a peace, a word of encouragement that can come as softly as a whisper or as gentle as someone wrapping his arms around me while I stare into the stars.When I stop talking, stop moving and rest in the reality of who God is, I know my priorities. I can step back and see that some things I’m pouring my time into aren’t as important as what God wants me to do. We’re only as busy as we let ourselves be, and in His wonderful eyes, the amount of activities we put on the list isn’t important but what we do with each task He’s given us.
The psalmist said it best when he wrote that we wither like flowers of the field, here one day and then gone the next (Psalm 103:15). Time goes by too quickly to not make the most of every second. Let’s do God’s agenda with each wonderful season in our lives; let’s enjoy moments to be still.
On another note I was awarded a blog award.
Miss Kira gave it to me. I'd highly encourage you all to visit her blog. I wasn't told how many people to give it to so, I give it to:
My youth pastor talked on advertisements and how we would read. I'm going to try and remember a bit what he said and add my thoughts. It was really good.
Check out the following advertisements. Each was actually printed as is in local newspapers.
• GEORGIA PEACHES — California grown. Eighty- nine cents a pound.
• Two wire-mesh butchering gloves: One 5-finger, one 3-finger. Pair $15.
• Nordic Track $300. Slightly used. Call Chubby.
• Snow-blower for sale. Only used on snowy days.
• Nice parachute. Never opened. Used once.
• Full-sized mattress. Twenty-year warranty. Like new. Slight urine smell.
• OPEN HOUSE: Body Shapers Toning Salon. Free coffee and donuts.
If someone were to run an advertisement on you , how would it read? Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”
The above advertisements don’t really make the reader want to rush out and purchase the items for sale, do they? Have you ever stopped to think that you’re a walking advertisement for Jesus Christ? So . . . if you actually were arrested for being a Christian, what would the evidence say? Do people know about your relationship with Christ? Is it as obvious as your hair color? When you walk into a room full of people, do they sense there’s something different about you?
Let’s take this a little deeper. Do the following key areas of your life give a true advertisement of Jesus Christ living in your heart?
#1: Conversation. Is your chit-chat filled with gossip and rumors? Any criticism or sarcastic remarks about others? Do you tend to spice your words with bitterness and negativity? Or are your conversations filled with words that bring glory to Christ?
#2: Clothing. Does what you wear (and how you wear it) cause others to question the depth of your relationship with Christ? Do you dress in such a way that the opposite sex has trouble keeping a pure mind when around you? Or have you learned the art of looking in-style yet remaining modest?
#3: Character. Does your lifestyle echo WWJD? Do you base your actions on what Jesus would do? Can others trust you to keep your word? Are you dependable? On time? Honest? Do you live a life of integrity . . . or is there always that little “something” that causes others to doubt your genuiness?
I just saw this comment on my blog from an old entry a while ago and thought I would share it since the commenter has asked me too:
"I saw this blog and the footprint theme, the christian feel to it. i felt at home at once. I have recently made a pact/promise/prayer for myself. I read the Footprints in the Sand poem and i thought this to myself "Wouldn't you always want there to be only one set of footprints?" Because i always want God to be carrying me. I don't want there ever to be a time in my life that i can see myself apart from him. Those may have been the person's happy moments, but i mean this in a different way. When i look back on my life, the only difference i want to see in the footprints is that when the times get hard, the footprints fall deeper into the sand. I hope you can share the concept of only one set of footprints for me. :)
xoxo, Ralily"
Oh and yes - be sure to watch Good Morning America on Wensday, September 10th. Me and my family( at least most of us) are going to be part of the audience inside along will some other homeschooling family's. Our homeschool group got invited for free but usually it cost big $$ to be part of the audience inside at the Times Sqaure studio in NYC. It's going to be very exciting!!
Back to school. Three words that make us all cringe. As August comes to a close and September creeps up, many of us will be heading back to our places of learning, anxious for the year to come. This up coming school year I want to encourage you to make the most of every moment. 1 Peter 1:24-25 says, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.”
Every moment is created by God, so my question is how are you going to glorify Him in it? How can we hold on to every moment while praising the Savior? We need to be visionary and have active faith.
We need to have a vision for the upcoming school year. Proverbs 16:9 says, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” So how do you practically live out that verse this school year? Develop a mindset of service through prayer. How would you like to grow closer to Christ this coming school year? Do you want to be more verbal with your faith? Be pushed out of your comfort zone for Jesus?As you go back to your place of learning, I encourage you to be in prayer. Sit down with your family or friends and lift up the 2008-2009 school year to the Lord. Give Him your dream of getting straight A’s, completing what you need to on time, etc.
Set goals, remembering God is sovereign over all.
Here are a few of my goals for this upcoming school year:
1: Learn more about trusting God even if it's all I learn this year.
2: Get a good grade, Lord willing, on my SAT.
3: Help my mom keep up with all the correcting.
4: Finish all my needed school on time.
5: Try to keep up this blog on a weekly basis.
6: Help my mom with being the co-director of our homeschool group.
7: Plan some field trips for the new school year.
8: And last, give all the glory to the Lord!
Lord Jesus, I ask for Your help as I begin this new school year. Allow me to experience Your presence in the many blessings You put before me. Open my eyes to the new challenges and exciting opportunities that this new school year brings. Open my heart and mind. Give me a generous spirit to be enthusiastic with my studies and courage to accept new opportunities. Help me to be attentive and let me experience Your presence. Jesus, inspire me to do my best this year!
One last thing - since I start school on Monday I'm going to have a lot less time to blog. I will try to get on after school and on Saturdays. The hardest thing for me during the school year is finding time to comment you all, so please be patient and if I forget about you feel free to come back and remind me :)
“But you, oh Lord, are a shield to me, my glory, and the one who lifts my head.
(Psalm 3:3)”
Let's face it we all have bad days. Times when nothing seems to go your way and nights when it would be in your best interest to just to fall asleep and pray that tomorrow brings forth a better day.
I woke up the other morning with a pounding headache, and a stuffed nose that made it awfully difficult to breathe. I rolled out of bed and headed to make breakfast. "Wow, this was going to be a fun day," I thought to myself.
As the morning turned into afternoon, I opened my Bible and read a few passages on the crucifixion of Jesus. Now, there was someone who was having a bad day. Not only was he hung on a cross, but he was beaten, whipped, spat on, and even tortured. Why? Because He loved us so much that He would go through every bit of pain just to insure that you could spend eternity with Him.
After reading over the scripture, I started to relate it to my situation. "I thought I was having a bad day." But, what if Jesus would have woke up on the wrong side of the bed on the morning He was supposed to die for our sins. What if He would have felt bad, and decided He wasn't willing to go through the pain of being nailed to a cross. What if when He saw that it was going to be a bad day, and He decided to not die for us. We are so grateful for the fact that Jesus did die for our sins. We are so thankful that even on our worst days, we would never have to go through what He did. Just let us not forget that when everything seems to be crashing down, Jesus died so that we could be built back up.
-Miss Elizabeth
(Picture found at photobucket.com.)
Check It Out: Would you like a pair of ShooShoos for a little one you know? Jocelyndixon is giving away one pair, and she would love for you to enter!The giveaway will end at midnight on Friday, August 22nd, 2008. So head on over and enter!!
I have found this meme on many others ladies blogs and thought it would be fun to do myself. To participate in the meme is simple. All you do is answer the bolded questions with your own answers and then link yourself at the Simple Woman’s blog each week.
For Today… August 12th, 2008
Outside my Window…Bird feeders and rows of cosmos.
I am thinking…what we will have for breakfast today.
I am thankful for…for a God who has been teaching me some hard lessons but I'm making it through.
From the kitchen…I'm sitting at the desk typing this while everyone get's up.
I am hoping... to finish this up today and post it.
I am hearing…Mom tell the little guys to get dress and get some breakfast.
Around the house… it's a little dirty but not to bad. We''ll clean some more this afternoon.
One of my favorite things…Receiving mails from my friends...
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week…Hmm...finish entries for the fair and get them there, do a litlte cleaning here and there, take foster kittens to vet, and maybe some yard work.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you…
This picture is one I took of the sky yesterday and my hand.
I am 15 years old. I have 8 brothers and sisters. I and my brothers and sisters are homeschooled by my mom.
I am a born again Christian and I love the Lord so much and He is very dear to me and can I never doubt it. I strive to love Him more, to attain His image, and to live only for Him! I blush and am ashamed when I consider how inadequate are the returns I am making Him; yet I can praise Him for the past and trust Him for all that is to come. I long to make progress every day, and each minute is precious, and I tremble if I should loose one. In Jesus Christ alone is the only way!!
Thank you 
