Mission week idea

A great way to pray for the missionaries with your family is to go to Google Earth. There, you can look up all the places where our missionaries are and the world will spin to those locations. You can also mark them for later observation

A great article about giving birth.

Read it here.

If everything would just go the way I planned, I would be happy!

If everything would just go the way I planned, I would be happy!- Or so we think...
Proverbs 3:5-8 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones." Wait a minute, what?- this verse tell us NOT to rely on our own understanding- and it says that THAT will make me happy. Our understanding is not strong enough to lean on or put the whole weight of our life upon like we think. It will bend and break. When we lean on our own understanding, we lean to what suits us and our particular circumstances. We lean towards selfishness. We lean toward the easy way out.
Obedience to God's ways, even when we feel they don't suit us and it is contrary to everything we want to do, will always lead us to the ultimate blessing. Proverbs 28:26 says, "He that trusts in his own heart is a fool." and Isaiah 5:21 says, "Woe to them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!"
It's easy for us to rely on earthly benefits because they come easy and our temporal. We can feel them or see them. It would be like if I asked my 3 year boy (the one not happy in the picture above) if he would rather have an ice cream cone now, or $100,000 dollars at the time of his graduation. As adults, we know what he should choose, but we also know what he would choose.
Even our best intentions are contrary to God's ways. We belong to a king and a higher calling. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
So, the question is, whose way are we going to choose? Deuteronomy 10:12 says, "What does the Lord thy God require of me... but to walk in all his ways." His ways are the only ways that bring peace. They are the only ways that lead to success. They are the only ways that will accomplish God's purpose.
This makes me think of a phrase from one of my favorite hymns:
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
So, back to the picture posted above, Robert was choosing to obey Mommy for the picture while Jude decided that his way of being in that picture was best and if it didn't go his way he wouldn't be happy. What will we decide to do- lean on our own understanding (cry in the picture, take the ice cream now) or trust and obey our King?

Father in Heaven...

It's the practice of our family to pray together whenever we get in the van. Last night in the van, when it was Rose's turn to pray, she said, "Our Father in heaven, twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are, Amen." Not quite from the Valley of Vision Prayer Book, but it sure was clute! (Rose has the habit of adding extra 'l's' to her words. ex: cute= clute, hungry= hungly, etc.)

The Scoop on the Cooked Cookies and the One Still in the Oven

My sweet husband is always wanting me to have time to do stuff I enjoy like having time to put photo albums together, write memorable things about our precious 'batch', and enjoy other godly women. So, today he came home and handed me his laptop with a 'blog spot ' of my own on the screen and told me this would satisfy for all those things I enjoy! The tough part for me is getting started and figuring it all out. I decided to start with a family update.
Tessa is our first born. She is our 8 1/2 (going on 13) year old third grader. She is an easy, yet hard child to homeschool. Easy in the sense that she is a quick learner, fast reader, and excellent writer. Hard in the sense that she is more focused on everything else in the entire world more than her school work most of the time. She works at it, however, and this is our best year yet.
She is involved in a choir called Servants and Singers this year. She is learning hymns and has had opportunities to minister to the elderly in an assisted living home through this program. She is a wonderful help to me with the family. She loves her little siblings and is a 'second mom' to them. She also helps me with household chores.
Fern is our second child and all the boys are lined up to marry her. She is a fun loving, gift giving, beautiful, clumsy, random mood first grader. She just turned 7 this December, but is the same height as her 3rd grade sister. She is an excellent student. She focuses well and is wonderful in math. She is a big help with the little ones as well. Her main family job is taking care of our little 3 pound Maltese named Jasmine. The smaller the animal, the smaller the bladder, so this is a full time job for her. She is learning gentleness, patience, and perseverance (on cold days) by having this job.
Robert. Robert. Robert- it's a good thing I had girls first-WOW. He is our self- proclaimed handsome 5 year old Kindergartner/super hero/ firefighter in training/ grown man/ violin virtuoso/ duck hunter/ cave man/ protector of the younger siblings middle child. He can be the sweetest, wildest, most dangerous, gentlest little boy. My prayer is that all this energy in him will be channeled into a godly leader some day. He is the reason I pray Galations 6:1 for myself everyday. He is excellent at school, but is a challenge sometimes to teach. He tests my patience, but warms my heart. Watch out girls.
Jude is our 3 1/2 year old sweetie. He is IN LOVE with his little sister- to the point that she gets mad and pushes him away after the 30th kiss. He is our more gentle boy who never harms anyone. His downfall, however is whining and complaining- which he is working on (with the help of discipline). He loves to sing and listen to music. If you ever see him, ask him about the poor old dirt farmer.
Rose (Rosie-Posie) is our youngest child. Her picture is the one you saw when you first came to this page. She will be 2 on April 1, but she acts like a 3 year old. She loves babies, cooking, snuggling, laughing, kissing, and playing with her siblings. Her best friend is her 'lovie' which is a ragged purple blanket with a hippo face for a head. This, however must always be accompanied by a pacifier. She speaks like a 3 or 4 year old and pronounces her words better than our boys. Everyone loves her and she knows it. Her Paw Paw calls her his little Dixie Bell and she loves it. Pretty soon, however, her limelight will be gone because #6 is cooking in the oven.
On May 3, we are expecting boy number three. I am excited about having a little baby around again, but terrified about bringing him into this world. Pray for me in that area, for I have home births and huge babies (Rose was a 10 pounder). Any suggestions for names would be welcomed.
A few more tidbits that include more than one child. The older three are involved in Awana at our church, which helps them memorize scripture on a regular basis. Its like Boy Scouts, except instead of tying knots, they memorize verses. The older three have also begun violin lesson this year. We are thankful for that opportunity for them.
Well, if you've read this far, your probably a grandparent. Otherwise, you know way more about us than you probably want to know. If, however, you are interested, we would love your prayers for our little family. Pray for our children to grow in wisdom and favor with God and man and pray for Rob and I as we disciple these little ones.