The whole truth...

I love reading God's word and recognizing the wisdom and how relative it is to life. I'll be reading and come across something and, "AHA! See! It's right there!"
I'll give you just a couple of examples I've come across lately.
Proverbs 12:3, "A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved." We often hear people say, when they have "experienced" life for a bit, "I'm now ready to plant my roots." The bible says that doing that will be difficult because of the sin in our life. Having, (like I tell the children) "shared their body" with other people, leaves a scar and takes up room in the heart that should be taken by the woman or man they are marrying. The bondage that a life of sin brings controls the "rooted relationship" and there is never a joy and freedom that the Lord wants to give a couple. My past is covered by the blood, I have been forgiven but the consequences of that sin is still existent. I've had to pray and had to overcome bondage and issues that controlled my relationship with my husband. The Lord would much prefer to see me without those chains but those are the consequences of my choices. Understanding that, helps in recovering and God CAN heal all wounds but how much better is it to keep ourselves pure.
The other one is sort of comical. Why is it that when we see boys, and even girls these days, who walk with a strut, we associate them with rebellion? You know what I mean. I junior high, that particular boy you knew never walked like that but halfway through high school, he developed this "strut" or "gate". I found it interesting when I came across verse 19 of Proverbs 17, "He loveth transgression that loveth strife: [and] he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction. " Isn't that amazing?! That's why we automatically associate one with the other, because God created us to recognize that. Even those who walk that way know, subconsciously because when they become "cool" they start that strut which is called a gate.
It's almost as if God knew things before us... LOL Do you think?
God's word is a workbook for life; it helps us build our life and the people around us. It's beyond me why we don't rely on it more... or why it's no longer used in schools... hmmmm I wonder... ;)

Being at Home...

Being at home is not always easy. Maybe if you are alone... but then again, if you are like me, you'd go crazy.
Tuesday, I was reading God's word in Proverbs 9 and boy did He ever feed me a buffet. I thought I'd share it with you... earlier this week mind you but now I finally have a bit of time.

If you want your household to go forward, to grow:

Vs. 1 says, that "wisdom hath builded her house"

• build it up, encourage the people you are with
  
• use the wisdom God gave you
• do right ALL the time

Vs. 2 says, "She hath killed her beasts"

• It requires effort to bring change

"She hath mingled her wine"

• requires attention and organisation

"She hath also furnished her table"

• have fun, be creative and think of others (as she "furnished" her table, she thinks of those who will be there)

Vs. 3 says, "She hath sent forth her maidens"

• ask for help; delegate the responsibilities

"She crieth upon the highest places of the city"

• watch the movie "Sound of Music" LOL just kidding...
• don't hold back on going the distance to make sure you communicate with people.

Vs. 7-9

• don't focus on those who are not willing to change, focus on those who want to grow and walk with the Lord.

It is a vital part of a mother and wife's ministry to help our household grow and draw closer to God. It's hard but so rewarding. I am not always victorious but the Lord is Good and He is Merciful. Life is so much more fulfilling and purposeful in following Christ.

How does God get your attention?

I have finally been able to go running again. With the 2 storms we had last week, the roads were too bad to go out; I did get a LOT of shovelling done though. :/
I like when I get to go running. I'm at a point where I crave it if I don't get to go, then as I start my first 10 minutes of the run I say to myself, "Ok.... so why do I crave this again???????" lol.
It was so nice out. I was able to wear gym pants and a pullover over my long sleeve T. I wasn't cold a bit. Awesome!
I also like when I go running because it helps me get my day started earlier. For some reason, I have such a hard time getting out of bed when I don't go running. Since my day is off to an earlier start, I get to actually blog! Yay!
Today I was reading in Ezekiel 8 and 9. So many things came to my attention, specifically how the world keeps saying that God has forsaken the world or that He doesn't exist but if only people would read God's Word, they would quickly notice how God shows Himself in this world and is trying to get people's attention.
The one thing of many, that I love is; God's humor. I LOVE to laugh and I think it's amazing how the Creator of our planet and galaxy has a sens of humor.
If you read Ez. 8:3, "And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem toward the north; where [was] the seat of the image of jealousy, which , to the door of the inner gate that lookethprovoketh to jealousy."
I don't know how God gets your attention when you are hard to reach but, in the past, God would take a spiritual black cast iron pan and "ding" me in the head; I'd hear a few spiritual birds flying around my head and have a huge spiritual lump and bruise on my forehead. I was all spiritual ears after that.
I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who, God needs to use drastic measures to get my attention. It seems that God grabbed Ezekiel by the hair, "locks" and pulled him up to see something God wanted to show him. I am confident that this would get my attention.
I thank the Lord that He takes the necessary time to get my attention concerning things I would otherwise not get to learn and be blessed by.
Nothing like a good 'ol attention getter to get me straightened out.

The beauty of homeschooling

I had mentioned that we watched the Olympics for two weeks and that we had learnt so much. I was able to receive the blessing of that learning yesterday morning.
I had finished my time alone with the Lord and the children had gone outside. We had had a storm, a mixture of precipitation, on Monday and they were finally able to enjoy it. On top of almost 3 feet of snow, there was a sheet of ice. The kids decided the get themselves each a piece of 2x4, the brush for cleaning the snow off the van and some spray paint. (Can you guess what they where going to play?) They took the SILVER spray paint and made a large dot on the snow/ice and gathered in the front of the barn, then later in the field.
I opened the curtains to check up on them and I saw my children taking their turn to scrunch down, and as close to the ice as possible, threw the "rock" towards the silver dot. One of the children then put the brush on it's side to give the next team mate the aim for their throw. In perfect curling position, they tossed their "rock" to knock the opponent out of range.
What a blessing it was as I watched them. I chuckled and thought how blessed I was to be able to be home with my children and participate in what could be life changing learning.
I love seeing the fruit of homeschooling. Teaching my children not only life skills, teamwork and loving the Lord in every day but also academics, is not easy. You need to be organised, determined, know why you are doing it, be consistent and be willing to allow the Lord to work on you in places you otherwise would not have to spend so much time focused on it. It is not for everyone although I do believe that it is the best way for children to learn. I love seeing all this effort and focus grow into good fruit. Other than having the Lord Jesus Christ in my life, it is my favorite thing in the whole world.
Enjoy the picts.

Edifying

How about those Canadian athletes!?! WOW! I am so excited, impressed and motivated by these individuals. The children and I watched the Olympics from mid afternoon until bedtime and we learnt so many things about other countries and our own. There is one thing that the Lord used to speak to my heart; it is the similarities between the reasoning of changing Olympic venues for each Olympic and my relationship with my children, and other people for that matter.I thought about why they would do that; change the venues for each Olympic and it became clear. Did you notice the "fans" that cheered the athletes? Do you think they got that kind of encouragement in other countries? How about Joannie Rochette... the Canadian figure skater who lost her mom the day her mom arrived in Vancouver? Do you think she could of overcame the same way if she was in another country?
The Lord showed me that my "entourage" needs my cheers and encouragement. They need to know that I am proud of them and that I will act as crazy as I need to so that they know how important they are to me and that "I believe" they can do it, no matter how hard it is.
That made a lot of sense to me. It was nothing new for me but just revision I guess. The Lord then showed me how much this can be used as my testimony of God doing this for me in my life.
Last night, once the children were in bed, after church, my husband and I watched a rerun of the men's hockey game that played earlier in the evening, Canada vs. USA. We already knew that Canada had won but wanted to see at least the highlights. We watched and the Spirit let me in on something and I shared it with my husband. I said, "This must be somewhat how God sees things...(confused look on my husband's face) He already knows the future, what's going to happen yet He watches us go about, encouraging us to make the right decisions, knowing that so many different plays could unfold.
That brought a thought of closeness with God. How awesome He is and how much bigger He is than our circumstances.