Oh Give Me a Break!

There is so much hype concerning the upcoming movie "The Golden Compass" in many Christian Circles. It's almost annoying that so many Christians cry about how big and bad the world is and they do nothing to support christian film makers except buy a couple of Veggie Tale videos here and there. Did we not expect that "perilous times" would come in the last days? Is it a surprise that films -including children's films are laden with Anti-Christ messages? Is this a shock? Any film you watch that has cursing/foul language, killing, lying, adultery,fornication, stealing, and any of the like is blatantly Anti-Christ but, we dare not consider it that. It's just mere entertainment. Some of the same Christians who complain and moan about protecting our children have no problem subscribing to Direct TV, Dish Network, TiVo, and local cable broadcasting and inviting the evil right into their homes (Which of Course they watch after their children are asleep). I said Some not All Christians.
And why all the hoop la about protecting our children from watching stuff they shouldn't at the local theatre. Isn't this our job, aren't we suppose to be vigilant caretakers of their souls? But yet we allow them to read books and listen to music that no more glorifies God than a hole in the wall all in the name of innocence and education. I say we get real. And clean house from the parents choice of media to our children. When was the last time we purchased a film or watched a film that pointed straight to the Throne? Why not try your local Christian bookstore's film section orchristianbook.com or franklinsprings.com/films/ Or does our allegiance lie with Pay Per View? Am I against TV and Movies ? NO. I take my chickadees out once and a while to see a Rated G movie. We even use it in Home school. What I am against is belly aching and thinking our responsibility begins and ends with a petition/and or boycott. Go out and support Christian Films. Attend a play/performance by an up and coming Christian Playwright. How about http://tylerperry.com Purchase Christian Films for your library and for heaven's sake make sure your local church gets a larger offering than you give your cable company.

I broke the perfect Mommy Rules! Twice!

2 weeks ago Rocco scored 4, Yes I said 4 goals for his soccer team. And of course, I did not have the video camera. But, I have good memories. Sure I would have loved to look back on it 10 years from now but, I'm not gonna beat myself up over it.

Anyhow, here's an announcement. I didn't keep a perfect kitchen last night. Gasp! As a matter of fact I left a sink full of dishes to fester until morning. (My dishwasher died a couple weeks ago and we have not gotten another yet). And after a "I just put my kids to bed I deserve a snack"snack, My daughter and I snuggled in my ever shrinking queen sized bed and talked till 10:30 or so. We talked and talked and talked and I would not trade that special girl-time for anything, let alone a sink full of dishes. I could have easily told her to go to bed while I spend 15-30 minutes cleaning the kitchen. I chose not to. And surprisingly enough, the dishes were still there when I got up. Once again... more good memories. The beauty of home school is that you can stay up late and not miss the bus in the morning.

Rain, Rain, go Away

It seems that as the weeks go on, the blog gets neglected. This one will be short and sweet. It rained alot this week. And I absolutely loved it. There is something peaceful about the rain. There is something wonderful about it that fills the air with a certain silence. Which is rare when you have 4 children. Each morning it rained, everyone-except me of course slept late. I'm hoping one day before the turn of the century, I will be able to sleep late.

Rain is necessary for plant life to grow. And just like in our lives rain must come. Sometimes it's a little, and sometimes it's alot. The excepted outcome is growth. I learned one thing today and it is this: Not to make the rain the Lord of your life. Not to get lost in the rain. But, while it is pouring down, cultivate your soul and spirit by fertilizing it with the Word of God. (As hard as it is).

Uprooting

Well first I have to talk a little about this pic. It is a picture of a tree that I saw last spring as I was taking a hike with my family. I noticed its root system and was amazed. Through some storm or wind this tree was uprooted. These roots ran deep. Yet, the tree was uprooted.

At the same time I am decluttering my home I am taking inventory of my life and once again I realize that there are toxic people, behaviors and thoughts that have creeped in. I can't just get rid of them. And I certainly can't "positive talk" them out of my life but, must uproot them. The only power source I have for excavating toxicity is Jesus. I am leaning heavily on Him to help me to determine what is necessary and what is not. What is life giving and what is dream crushing. What to eliminate and what to build upon.

A powerful verse that the Lord called to my attention this week was Ephesians 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ". These spiritual blessings are the power, the wisdom, the faith, the discernment, needed to combat all that seeks to uproot you. But that is only the beginning. His power and anointing are available to you. And everything that He has promised is available- to you. Do we believe that God loves us this much or have we been content with trusting him as our savior so that we can go to heaven?

It use to annoy me when people would say "The Word (God's Word) is your instruction manual". It was annoying because there was so much in the Word I didn't get. Especially in the King James. But as life's trials have not been shy about presenting themselves, I have been finding instruction, and wisdom within its tissue paper-like pages. I have come to the conclusion through trial and error that if you trust in God and not believe that He is this superstitious being in the sky that is mad at you and ready to punish you for every sin, and that He is only in love with the little children, His Word will come alive to you. God is not far from us. He is always here.

I thank God that his mercy is new every morning. That no matter how many times I blow up or blow it, He is merciful to me. He loves us and knows we will never be perfect as long as we are here on earth. But if our trust goes beyond just reading the words on the page to speaking forth those Words over our lives, Louder than everything else we talk about, can we imagine what awesome transformation that will take place? Not so that we can just be better people but, so that God can get the glory that is due Him and the opportunity to demonstrate his resurrecting power in our lives and those around us.

God is for you! Not against you. Are you on the same team?

Life Happens

This week was a busy one. Busy is such a misnomer. The week flew by but, as I was in it, it seemed to go by so slow. Today was the first day I checked voice mail and I had 10 voice mails since last Monday. The week was full of the usual demands plus babies getting up several times a night-all week, One sick child, and embracing everything that reminds me that I am a female which led me to several naps through out the week. (What a run on sentence)

Yet, Home school was filled with lessons about unrepented sin complete with visual (1 wine glass, colored water-via food coloring, and baking soda0. I gave the children examples of offenses and asked what kind of sin it was i.e. lying, defiance, disobedience, etc. Each time they said what it was I poured a little of the water in the glass. Then we talked about what happens when we do not repent of sin. The conclusion was that it bubbles over in us and affects those around us. At that point, I put some baking soda in the glass and the children watched in astonishment as the colored water bubbled over and spilled onto the disposable plastic table cloth.

Isn't it interesting that when we harbor offenses how easily they can turn into bitterness and spill over onto the lives of others. We become irate customers, drivers with road rage, cynical church goers , and angry mamas and papas. How many lives do we infect because of unrepented sin? Countless.

What legacy are we leaving my harboring faults and offenses? How are we connecting with our spouses, our children, our siblings, our parents, our friends when we hold grudges? We will never sufficiently "get back" at another person by holding a grudge. Often the person who has hurt us knowingly or unknowingly for that matter has forgotten the offense or could care less. Yet we will carry the tension in our joints and other parts of our bodies not to mention torment ourselves and hold ourselves in mental prison unable, to love freely or give freely because we refuse to experience the freedom of forgiveness. Forgiving another person does not mean pretending nothing has happened and becoming best friends. But what it does mean is giving up your right to hate and plot against that person so that you can be free from the prison of anguish the offense has you in. So that you may live your life in freely. Not as a captive. All of this is a process.

The Word of God says that If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The only person that you can change is you. You can not require another person to say that they are sorry. Death and Life are in the power of the tongue and although you have been offended you can choose Life, today.

The power of God is available to all who call on His Name in repentance. It does not have to be some grand affair with eloquent speech. God is just looking for a humble heart that says, "Lord, its me, please forgive me".

Monday, October 8, 2007

I only have a few minutes to blog so here goes.


Part of organizing my home includes a chore chart that breaks the chores down by days. Each day I also throw in a load of laundry-which reminds me there is a load still wet in the washer. : (


Today's chore was vacuuming and we accomplished mostly all of it except for my room and the girls room. The kids got a kick out of sucking up the cobwebs and spiders with the vacuum cleaner. Then it turned into, "Suck my hand up", "Suck my arm up", "Do that again!" Yes, I did put the vacuum cleaner on their arms and hands so they could feel the suction. Before I knew it it was almost lunch time.

My Laundry Schedule Looks like this:

Monday- Moms Laundry

Tuesday- Noahkeem & Rocco's Laundry

Weds - Cookie & Dolly's Laundry

Thursday-Linens

Friday- Daddy's Laundry

My chore schedule is written on a chart and posted on the side of the fridge and also in my Home Management Notebook. (see http://www.myblessedhome.blogspot.com/ on how to create a HMN)

The chart I used for chores was taken from Gayle Grahams book, How to Homeschool. You can find this at http://www.christianbook.com/

Each Day I have 1 or 2 chores to do and use my helpers with them.

• 
  
  Monday - Vacuum & Iron-which I almost never iron


• 
  
  Tuesday- Dust


• 
  
  Wednesday- Mop Floors


• 
  
  Thursday-Change Linens, Clean Baths


• 
  
  Friday-Clean Car, Yard/Garden,Dust if needed, Vacuum again if needed

Saturday & Sunday is Chill out day. Only do maintenance,(spills, dishes, sweeping). Family time.

The above schedule is subject to change If I the Queen Mother have other obligations.

Hope that helps. Off to bed. But before I go, here's something all of us moms can appreciate: Mom's Overture

All in a days work

This Picture is from The State Fair. Monday was home school day so of course we took advantage. No crowds, long lines, no pushing, no shovin'. Just a day filled with Elephant ears, funnel cake, frozen chocolate covered bananas, a million lemonades, burgers, fries, fried macaroni and cheese, cotton candy, root beer floats and of course, KETTLE CORN!

Today was a rainy Friday and I managed to restore the kitchen floor to Board of Health approved condition. For the last 2 years I have tried Damp mopping, all kinds of solutions, dust mopping etc. I have used nearly everything that you re not suppose to use on a hardwood laminate floor to no avail. But at last, my floor is so sparkling clean it nearly hurts my eyes to look at it. What did I use? HOT HOT Water and 1/4 cup of vinegar and a little elbow grease. I cleaned a 3x3 spot with a t-shirt cloth/rag and then dried with same type of rag. And the key is to do it with the grain. And yes I got down on my hands and knees. Cookie asked me, "Why don't you use the knee pads Daddy used when he was installing the floor?" : ) My knees where hurting but the film on the floor was hurting more. Each time I went to put the rags in the HOT HOT Vinegar Water, I notice -without exaggeration that the rag was gray.- Dark Gray. Anyhow.

When I was Little Miss Career Girl, I never thought I would find satisfaction in home making. I can't tell you how pleased I am with my new floor. I feel confident that the kids can eat as many cheerios that they have dropped without consuming any other substances it may have come in contact with. Needless to say, I will not be doing the all 4 method for maintenance.Just one little shot from a wall in the kitchen...there is a tiny glimpse of the floor. I couldn't turn the picture so just turn your head.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

ROCCO

There was no game on last Saturday although we showed up on time in uniform. (just to find no one on the field ). And my darling Rocco did not get upset. I did learn a couple of lessons though. #1 It is possible to have at least 2 kids dressed and on the field by 8:30am. #2Read the soccer schedule more carefully.

EXTREME MAKEOVER-CRABITAT EDITION

We went back home and decided to give Sammie and Dylans tank and extreme makeover. Here are some pics. The first is of the dirty old tank.

Dirty tank pic
Below I'm reaching in and cleaning out the residue left after the old sand/dirt was poured out

THE FINISHED PROJECT in the Kitchen (Of course it did not stay there.. Its home is in the Play Room.

"Welcome Home Crab Family, Welcome Home!"

"Hey Mom, What's for Dinner?"

Don't you love that question? I used to dread it before planning out my meals one week in advanced. I uses a chart I found on http://chartjungle.com/. Nothing is written in pen. So there are days when I change the menu around. The point is to have 7 options and not have the "What will I make for Dinner Crysis (yes I did say "Cry"sis) "at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

Well today I will use my crock pot for the first time in a couple of years. Of course I had to power wash it : ) . I just got a recipe for Crock Pot Beef Stew from http://cooks.com/. Minus the bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce, potatoes, and celery. Boy that's half the recipe, I hope it taste like something remotely like beef stew. Later on we will make Jasmine rice and corn bread.

Why do things like this happen?

Yesterday as the guy from the grocery store loaded our bags into the car, I realized that there was a package of chicken breast hiding near Dolly's car seat so needless to say the chicken went back into the store and we got into our van and went home. Therefore let it be known that there will be no chicken for lunch or chicken soup tomorrow unless we venture back to the store and buy some. : )

Hi Ho, Hi HO, Its off to school we go.

I came across a website that I have found helpful in the home school journey:http://guiltfreehomeschooling.org/blog/2004/03/every-day-is-learning-day-and-life-is.html. NO MORE Competitive schooling. Your school must be what God has called it to be for you and your children. It's great to get ideas from friends but, when you start comparing yourself to them and trying to do what they do so that your kids will be as smart if not smarter than theirs you are headed toward dangerous territory. Know why you home school and stand firmly on those beliefs and forget about the rest.

Today is the day we will do art. Maybe A little Drama-that's an art form. We will talk about how Mary & Joseph had Jesus in a Stable and how the stable was no doubt smelly and cold. And how the hay in the feeding trough (manger) must have felt on Jesus' newborn body. And they didn't have a fleece blanket for Jesus so they had to wrap him in swaddling clothes... Pieces of cloth and place him there. Then as a project we will cut up 2 old t-shirts I set aside when decluttering my dresser drawers. And Cut them up into rectangles and wrap up our dolls and Spiderman like Mary & Joseph wrapped Jesus. We will then talk about salvation and give prayer requests. And finally put the cloths away and use them for cleaning the bathrooms-Which is Thursdays chore. Look at that! We Just covered Speech/Public Speaking, Drama, Home Ec, Scissor Safety & Bible and we didn't open one text book. Isn't Homeschooling Great?

WHY DONT YOU CHANGE?

This post has been in the making for quite some time so here goes:


Its very late and I'm past tired and I expect to hear the pitter patter of little feet in about 6 hours. so this will be short and sweet.





This evening I realized that no ones life is perfect. You might say "Duh, of course not". But often we thing that the grass is greener on the other side. We think that the 10 minute blurb of life we see as we observe people in public is the essence of their relationship. We may know people or have mentors we look up to and wish to emulate but they too have flaws, all of us do. The flaws in others that bother us the most make us want to cry out, "Why don't you change?"





The truth of the matter is that we can read all the self centered or God centered self help books we want, attend millions of seminars and retreats, but the only thing that will prove true to lasting change is applying Gods word to your life. And to your relationships. The Bible says-believe it or not, that "Whatsoever a man believes in his heart, so is he". So if you think you are not smart, then you are not smart. If you think you ill thoughts about people, especially those we claim to love, then we will reap the benefits of those ill words.



It's so easy to become bitter over the inactions of others that we think effect/infect our lives.


The problem with reconciliation is that first, we don't realize it can be a process and secondly, we always want the other person to change first (which reflects spiritually immaturity in our hearts). We say and hear it said, "If he/she changes, then I'll change" Or "If he/she says sorry, then I will" . Do we not get tired of the emotional turmoil and strength the reconciliation war taxes on us? Is there a point in our lives when we stop pointing the finger and making excuses and free ourselves by taking that first step?





The best thing you can do to change another person is to change yourself. And trust with all your heart that God will be faithful to his Word. But it's hard to believe even that if we don't know what his Word says.