Religion

"Religion is what regular people get in order to stay out of hell. People who have already been to hell don't want religion, they just want to know God." -W. Dale Cramer

Home Management

I would just like to give a few tips on Home Management. Organization is my Spiritual Gift and I thought that I would share some ideas to strengthen others.

1. Organization should be done as often as possible. Why just today I organized the same drawer twice. Of course, that was because I kept forgetting that it was done.

2. Clean out your drawers. Why, just today I found a butter knife in our home school supplies. Ah, the hidden treasures.

3. Get rid of things that you have not used for 6 months. Of course this does not apply to my supply of Art books that one day will magically turn me into a painter.

4. Enlist the help of the family. M. was gracious enough to take unflattering pictures of my travail and the dog was a great help by eating the unknown pieces of food that were not where they were supposed to be.

5. Be generous. Give your castoffs away to the less fortunate. Even used tea bags can be sent to Missionaries as a bountiful blessings, and who wouldn't want the children's drawings from first grade. They are frame worthy and ready.

6. Bless yourself with rest. After you are done sit and look at all you have done. You will need to take a mental picture, because before you can sneeze it will be destroyed by those @$(&#(@#@, I mean, sweet children.

Blessings to you all. Be encouraged as you create a loving and warm environment in your home. So loving, in fact, no one will leave and you will be a slave forever! Peace.

What a week

Is there anything like the Friday afternoon after VBS?

I am so thankful for my wonderful friends that made this a very enjoyable chaotic week.

God is so good to give us what we don't deserve and couldn't create if we tried. The body of Christ is a glorious thing.

We're Back

We are back and VBSing this week.

Here is a video I would love for you to watch. It is unbelievably in tune with God's leading in my own thoughts lately. Please take the time to watch at least the first 20 minutes of it.

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=19fd9c84c942a08316e0

The Prayers of Children

I slammed my finger in the door and was left with a fingernail cracked in half and a good bit of blood. It hurt so bad I almost passed out. I really can't remember pain that bad, not even natural childbirth. Something just went very wrong.

The boys rushed to get me ice and pain medicine and pick me up off the floor where I was writhing.

Sitting on the couch, they asked me what they could do. Gasping, I asked them to pray God would take the pain away. E knelt down in front of me and M stood behind me and placed a hand on each shoulder. Immediately, as they prayed, a feeling of numbness flooded over my body and I was so much more comfortable. It was an amazing experience!

It was humbling to see them storm the gates of heaven on my behalf.

Exercise, travel, and everything else

Getting in Shape...

T has to stay in shape in order to be safe at work, and I have to stay in shape in order to be healthy (I'm borderline everything bad in the world...) so we decided we would love to have a bowflex. Our reasoning was that we do not have the time or desire to go outside our home for exercise and we wanted the boys to be able to start building some muscle-very slowly. Well, we don't have deep pockets and we were very afraid that we would buy one and never use it. So, we started walking as many mornings as we could. We reasoned that if we would be disciplined enough to get out in the weather everyday, then we might have learned enough discipline to use a machine. Well, we did it. For a little over a year we have stuck with exercising in the morning, and during that year we saved a nice bit of change. So this weekend we found a great deal (75% off) on a bowflex and brought it home. It is now in the garage and gave me a great workout yesterday. It is easy to use and safe for the boys. Just for fun we are going to take before and after (or monthly, as there should really be no end) pictures. You may only see them if I get really buff!

Travel...
This is packing, cleaning, organizing, and preparation week for our trip to OK and Texas. We are all excited. We have not have an "alone" family vacation in a long time. We can not wait.

Speaking of cleaning...

Vinegar and borax mixed together make a really great "green" cleaner. It really got the mold in the shower. Sorry though, it does still require elbow grease. But it won't hurt your skin or your brain (if you inhale large quantities in a small shower like mine!)

Also, we have taken a friend's blog advise and started hanging our clothes to dry instead of spending the money to use the dryer and then having to spend money to cool the house after it is done. We put a clothes line in our bedroom and we use the evaporative cooling from the clothes to cool our notoriously hot bedroom (no pun intended!) We are finding that it also saves on wear and tear on the clothes. It seems like a win-win situation. (One great tip is to toss the clothes in a low-temp dryer for 5 minutes before hanging. This shakes out the wrinkles and saves on ironing.)

So that's it for now. I'm sure I will check back in after the trip.

Is that woman carrying a chair?

Here is our morning walk...

Tim is trying to learn to speed walk in order to pass a fitness test for walk. Legs bent, butt out, arms flapping...

Me huffing and puffing at a jog to keep up and laughing my head off!

Stopping often to stretch out screaming muscles, I spy a wicker chair in someones garbage. Tim comments on the horrible color. I promise to grab it on our way back home.

So, after almost being run down by Cruella de Ville while crossing the street, I hoist the chair on my back for the half mile back to the house.

Doesn't everyone walk with a bright green wicker chair on their back.

Tim's dry comment was that it sure beat the leather chair I used to carry to rest in. Ha Ha

Salvation

Lk 19:9 "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.
Ac 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Ro 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "He who through faith is righteous shall live.
Mt 10:22But he who endures to the end will be saved Mt 24:13 Mark 13:13
Mt 19:25"Who then can be saved?" 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 27 Then Peter said in reply, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?" 28 Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me Other Gospels also tell the same Mark 10:26
Mk 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned
Lk 7:50nd he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Lk 8:12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved.
Jn 3:17For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him
Jn 10:9 I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture
Ac 2:21And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Ac 4:1212 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved
Ac 11:14‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.
Ac 16:30"Men, what must I do to be saved?" 31 And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 3 …and he was baptized at once, with all his family
Ro 5:99 Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 1
Ro 10:9 The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach); 9 because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. 11 The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. 13 For, "every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved
1 Cor 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Co 15:1-2 Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, 2 by which you are saved, if you hold it fast—
Eph 2:4-10 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— 9 not because of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
2 Th 2:13-14 God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel,
1 Ti 2:15 Yet woman will be saved through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.
2 Ti 1:8-9 But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace
Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
Heb 10:39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved
1 Pe 3:20-21 In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience

Ted Kennedy

Please join me in praying for Ted Kennedy.

As he faces this very hard time, he needs the Hound of Heaven to pursue him relentlessly. His family will desperately need the love of God to give them peace and courage.

Let's pray the God surrounds them all with true Christ-followers that will live the Gospel out for him.

Sleepy Morning

I in no way think homeschooling is the only way to raise children. I believe each person needs to seek God's will for their child and then follow it without fear or compromise.

That said, I have to say how much I love the sleepy mornings that we can allow to just develop into easy, relaxed days. I am finding a new peace with the life God has called me to for this season.

It is important that we all look for the blessings that surround us instead of gazing into other fields longing for grass that we just know must be greener.

So here's my glass raised to the blessings of the life God has given you!

Inexpensive skin care

I have already admitted to using vinegar in my hair to keep it shiny and healthy and to keep dandruff and an itchy scalp healed.

I also use vinegar as a toner and skin cleanser. Vinegar is a natural way to kill germs and the slightly acidic environment it leaves on your skin keeps infections and pimples away.

Having dry, itchy skin that is also oily has made for a tough time finding a moisturizer. I have found that olive oil is great and cheap. Just spread a little bit on and your face will feel great at a cheap price. My makeup goes on easily over it and seems to last longer.

Hey, and think of it this way. If you get hungry, you already have salad dressing on your face.