Teachers of Good Things

“HELP!” Have you ever been at your wits end with a child that did not seem motivated to obey or whined, or was disrespectful? One that had no drive to help, to clean up, pick up, etc.. I’ve certainly been there and still go there occasionally. It was during one such time that I was desperately searching the internet for some advice that would give me the wisdom to change the situation. Not just outwardly but in my child’s heart. That day I stumbled upon the writings of Michael and Debi Pearl and I know that it was a divine appointment. Little did I know that day started me off on a life-long journey. It’s virtually impossible to do something completely different.. something that you’ve never even seen done before. I had never known anyone or seen anyone that actually trained their children. So I did what my parents did.. I talked and explained, warned and then threatened.. I reasoned and then I lost it. How I wish that day everything I read would have sunken into my hard head and caused me to change the way I thought and did things. How simple would that have been?! But it started me off on a quest.. a quest to become something to my kids that I had never seen before in my life. Now it’s years later.. two of my kids are basically grown, and I look back and see many, many mistakes I made with them. A lot of those things I have learned the hard way and have changed for my younger two. The child training was just a part of the big picture. One piece of the puzzle that I didn’t know where to place until I got my heart lined up with God’s word concerning my marriage after reading Created To Be a Help Meet, by Debi Pearl. It convicted me, it made me laugh and made me cry.. sometimes simultaneously! But still it was another piece of a big puzzle. Since our move down to south Florida and finding this little bitty non-denominational church that seemed a little slow and lame at first (just being honest) God has sat our pious, religious selves down and gotten our attention right good. Our pastor is the most humble and sincere man I’ve ever met. There is no flash, no lightening bolt, no shivering and goosebumps when he speaks. He speaks quietly, rationally, patiently and paints with his words a picture of something entirely foreign. He doesn’t play on your emotions, he doesn’t use words deceptively, he doesn’t use guilt or fear to his advantage. After the Lord had confirmed to us that He definitely wanted us there and I began to really pray about the difference I saw and felt in this church the Lord brought me to Elijah’s story. There was a great wind, but God was not in the wind. There was an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. A fire.. but God was not in the fire. Then a still, small voice. Brother Joe didn’t paint a picture of a religious man at all but rather a person who accepts being misunderstood and misrepresented without attempting to justify himself. A person who loves someone that hates him. Who prays with a sincere and loving heart for someone that has despitefully used him and lied about him. A person that forgives them that refuse to return forgiveness. A person that lays down his own will, his own plans, in exchange for God’s. A person that believes God when it hurts and accepts being wronged with a willing and gentle heart. A person that I have never been. A person that I have now realized that I must be to follow Jesus. A person like Jesus. A person who takes up his cross daily and follows Him. Without condition, without explanation, without wrath and doubting. Always hoping, always believing, always enduring. A million scriptures that I’ve read a thousand times rolled and turned in my mind.. making sense like they never had before. All these years I’ve thought I was such a great Christian. For years wearing nothing but dresses. Homeschool, homechurch, homebirth. Gone without make-up, jewelry, television. Been righteous outwardly but inwardly being contentious, holding grudges, only being kind to those that were kind to me. You may wonder how I got here from an article beginning about whining, complaining, disrespectful children? Because many times it is our own hearts that are being mirrored back at us through our children. Painfully. Those things that lie within ourselves that we don’t want to see.. we see in our children and despise. God help us. God change our hearts and turn our hearts back to our children. Give us love, undieing, unconditional love. Help us get ourselves straight so that we may become the Godly parents that we need to be for our children.
Just last night ~ last night ~ my 14 yo son was so disrespectful to me. This is after God has dealt with both my husband and my heart and we have begun to love our kids like we never did. Did it instantly warm them up to be obedient and respectful? No, not exactly. Sometimes it’s quite the opposite feeling. And last night my son was disrespectful and instead of correcting, instead of walking away because I was getting angry, what did I do? I raised my voice, I glared at him and I told him how horrible he was for speaking to me that way because I had been so kind to him. That was the same old thing I used to do that never gave me good results. My pastor says, ‘if you do the same thing you always did then you’ll get the same thing you always got’. Makes good sense, right? I went into my room (slammed the door, mind you) and I fell right down on my knees and began to pray. Unlike years past I didn’t accuse God. I didn’t blame God for giving me “bad” seed (LOL) but I said, please help me Lord!! I am doing what you told me to do Lord. I am loving them with all my heart, I am being kind, I am not being a task-master, I am not ignoring them while we live in the same house; always too preoccupied to look at their eyes when they want me to listen to them. God, you’ve changed my heart toward my children. You’ve caused me to love them more deeply than I ever have. You have caused me to be sincerely grateful to have them when there has been times that I honestly have not felt that way. But Lord, why aren’t they responding? Why isn’t it working? What am I supposed to do? I would like to reason with them, I would like for them to talk to me respectfully because they love me. Not because they fear me like they did when they were little. And I continued to explain to the Lord what I wanted and why. And then the Lord began to speak to me…
You must make negative behaviour counterproductive. They are not going to treat you with the level of love and respect that an adult that loved you would because they are still children. When they speak to you disrespectfully, when they disobey you, there must be a consequence; immediate and swift. Without emotion, without giving them a speech or a guilt trip, without anger and wrath. You aren’t mad at them personally. Don’t make it personal. You are unhappy with their action. They must learn that action or reaction will earn them a negative consequence. And you know what.. these are things I already knew. Michael Pearl teaches them. But I forgot because it was foreign. It was information banging on my head but never penetrating it. I said, God, write this on my heart. This morning I woke my son up by apologizing to him for getting angry at him and for not being a good trainer in the first place (he understands this because he trains his horses). It’s actually my own fault. I have conditioned him to behave this way. Oh how good and how merciful is our God!? How patient, how wise, how loving, how great, how awesome, how powerful and yet how gentle and full of loving kindness toward us. How I love Him so and how do I show or manifest that? By loving others with the same love that He has shown toward me. Praise His Holy name.

IF YOU HAVE A CHILD WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES PLEASE READ!!!

“Virtually nothing is done in medical school to teach students that nutrition may often be the most important element of diagnosis and treatment. Consequently, they begin their practice unaware that food allergies are the primary cause of many childhood ailments and that adequate nutrition is the basis of good health. This ignorance compels them to use drugs in the treatment of diseases that could have been cured with a simple change of diet.” How To Raise A Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor, by Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D.

America is the most unhealthy and overweight nation in the world. America consumes 70% of ALL (legal) drugs produced in the world. Most Americans are trapped in a cycle… abundant toxicity, foods low in nutrition, antibiotics, vaccinations, foods high in sugar, creating a weak immune system. Then we get sick and go to the Dr. and get ANTIBIOTICS. Further weakening the immune system. Since becoming introduced to our local Maximized Living office I have learned so much. I am so grateful that Dr. Matt took the time to come and speak to our church one Wednesday night. It was literally an answer to prayer for me. I had a wreck when I was 16 years old that probably should have killed me. What it did do was misalign the top of my spine. Though I had been to the chiropractor, amazingly they had never seen that. I was suffering increasingly difficult to ignore neck and back pain, bad headaches, major allergy and sinus issues, tinnitus, chronic fluid in the middle ear, along with increasingly severe digestion and hormonal issues. A thermal nerve scan and Xrays revealed that I was in phase II degeneration. Phase III is beyond repair. My family goes regularly to be adjusted since and we have seen a lot of issues we used to struggle with, disappear.

Having your spine in proper alignment is only one piece of the puzzle though. We must reduce our exposure to toxins; environmental toxins (mold, lead, mildew), toxins in food, medications & vaccinations, toxins in household products and cleaners. Some things we can change easily enough. After learning about the ingredients used in my basic household cleaners I rejoined Melaleuca and ordered their Home Conversion Kit. For $100. I discarded all the toxic household cleaners and replaced them with wonderful Melaleuca products. They are environmentally friendly, economical and long lasting. Best of all, THEY WORK!

I changed our diet! This was more tricky. Especially on a strict budget it can be a real challenge to come home with enough food for a week, that is healthy, that the kids will actually consume! After all, no matter how healthy it is, if the kids won’t eat it.. then you’ve wasted your money!! I buy organic as much as possible, Costco helps me afford to do this. I clean my fresh fruits and vegetables when I bring them into the house, before they get put in the basket or in the frige. I “shop the walls”. Meaning, the stuff in the store that is best for you is all around the edges of the store.. the meat, the fruit, the vegetables, the milk, the cheese. I avoid processed foods. This means that I have to cook.. although I do try to keep more simple things around like cans of soup and chili. I read the ingredients! LESS IS BEST!! The ingredient list shoudn’t be two miles long. Also, IF YOU CAN’T READ IT, DON’T EAT IT!! Did you know that 4 of the first 5 ingredients in popular “grain” bars are SUGAR?! READ the ingredients!

Dried fruit, nuts, dark chocolate, applesauce, peanut butter, cottage cheese, almond butter, honey, tuna, sardines, corn tortilla chips, yogurt, granola bars (read the label!), fresh fruit, raw veggies, jerky.. are great snacks instead of boxes of cookies and bags of chips. Drink unsweetened or lightly sweetened (w/ cane or organic sugar) black or green tea, 100% juices, V8, whole (preferably organic) milk, vitamin water. Now if you make these changes as I did, when you have THREE teenaged sons in the house, it can be difficult indeed. Money was tight and we lived on things like ramen noodles, saltines and vienna sausage. :-( Oh my! But I put up with the gripes and whines and eventually their addiction to these foods diminished.

Now, nutrition is VERY important to all of us but to the child with learning difficulties, ADD, ADHD, Autism-like symptoms, etc..; nutrition is VITAL. Medicating was not an option for me. Even the few times I even allowed my mind to entertain the notion of medicating, the Lord would put the thoughts to a screeching halt. NO, NO, NO. It just screamed in my spirit. I used to pray Lord FIX my son. The Lord said to me one day, he isn’t broken. He is how I created him to be. Now what we want as parents, especially parents that commit to their children to the extent of teaching them at home, sacrificing “their” life, their free-time to invest in the lives and futures of their children, we want our children to be the best that they can be and we realize that they aren’t perfect. They all have strengths and weaknesses. It is a major thing for a person to be able to recognize their weaknesses, isn’t it? To admit-at least to themselves-that they have some flaws and then to do whatever they can do to strengthen those weak spots. Prayer changes things. God’s word, applied to our lives, is a healing balm. Enough rest, our spine in proper alignment & good nutrition (minimizing processed foods full of chemicals, sugar and dyes)is a fabulous place to begin….

I was having major digestional issues and after much prayer and research I pinpointed my problem. A gluten intolerance. Gluten intolerances are hard to pinpoint without extensive blood tests, which is expensive. Whether you have an intolerance or an allergy to gluten.. the “cure” is the same.. STOP EATING IT!! While I was researching this I was stunned at how many symptoms of Gluten Intolerance my son had as well. From birth.. physical as well as emotional and learning difficulties.. brain “fog”, lack of memory, on and on the list went. We did choose to do a few blood tests with him but the results were borderline.. inconclusive. Without a pretty expensive and uncomfortable GI test and more blood tests, we could not know for sure. Regardless, as I said before, the “cure” was the same. DON’T EAT IT!! So, my son and I decided together to go GLUTEN FREE and just see how we felt. Going gluten free is a difficult feat. You will have to avoid processed foods and every single loaf of bread, cookie and snack, almost every cereal you’ll find at the grocery store. Gluten free bread that’s actually edible is hard to find. I was so grateful that I discovered at my health food store a bakery that makes delicious GF bread that will ship it to me. NO more pizza, which the most difficult thing for my son to loose. Unless you go to Pizza Fusion, they do have a very good GF pizza. No more flour. This was very difficult for me as well until I found www.glutenfreemama.com. This is a regular mom who has been on this journey, couldn’t find a good flour to cook with so she experimented until she found some great blends that she sells on her site. Since our Wal-mart has remodeled, they began to carry several GF products; cake mix, pancake mix, cookies, and prepared meals such as burger helper, pastas, etc.. Now I placed the GF “helper” next to the other helper and the ingredient list was half as long. So, I typically keep a box of it on hand to make if I am pressed for time. Just for kicks I compared a Publix brand organic ketchup ingredient label to a name brand non-organic label. I was amazed at the difference! Not only are organic products made with ingredients that have not had hormones and pesticides applied to them, but they are actually made with less ingredients and BETTER ingredients. For example cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup!

THE RESULTS- No more hours in the bathroom for me. No more cramps and no more tears! Praise the Lord!! I was also amazed that the one night I thought I’d cheat and eat a piece of pizza, my allergies went nuts and I hacked, sneezed and snotted for about 12 hours. There’s obviously some type of wheat allergy going on as well. In my son, he was like a totally different kid. I am not exaggerating, in about 10 days time he was so different; so patient, memory so much better, mannerism totally different. There was a humnanness about him, a gentleness that I had literally never seen in him EVER. There was such an obvious change to the whole family. He hugged me one night on about day 10 GF, told me he loved me and thanked me for putting up with him. I laid there in bed with tears flowing down my face, so grateful the Lord had finally gotten me to this point and also so sad it took me so long.

It is a really hard feat, especially for a teen, to do this. It will take some dedication and cooperation if you have a teenager, but it can be done. Don’t take my word for it.. go to your local library and check out some books on the subject. LEARN AND PRAY ABOUT IT! If you have any questions, I would be glad to attempt to answer them for you, if I don’t know the answer then I’ll say, WOW, I don’t know!? I didn’t have much help/encouragement on my GF journey personally and you can survive without it.. but it is sure nice to have some occasionally!!

BLESSINGS!!!

Investing in uncertain times…

We live in troubled times. We hear it everyday even from secular media. We see what has happened around the world in various countries when socialistic policies rule & we know from God‘s word what happens to a country that forgets God. America is in trouble.

The Lord recently dealt with me about the thoughts that seemed to be infiltrating my mind. There is no doubt, difficult days are coming. Things that were once “certain” are no longer. Things are changing now, not only for America financially but concerning our liberty. Our rights to teach our children, to preach God’s unadulterated word, to hold up standards of righteousness. How can a country be governed without a standard? When we just look to what every man deems as right or wrong as the standard, then you become a society where anything goes. Our founding fathers used God’s word as the standard by which right and wrong were judged. Now that is offensive to people. America, as a whole, has been our making a living; buying better, bigger, nicer things for several decades now allowing the public schools to raise up it’s children so that now these young adults who have come up are virtually clueless when it comes to the principles with which our country was founded. They did not embrace church vs. state divisions.. The documents they drafted were all about this achaeic book some of us still choose to live by. Parents neglected to teach their children that the bible was the standard by which right and wrong could be judged and allowed their children to be molded by a mentality of godlessness, so they just lean to their own feelings and thoughts to guide them. It’s a ‘feel good’ generation. It isn’t just the young though.. It’s much more widespread than that. We live in a rebellious world where people refuse to submit to any authority whatsoever that would attempt to show them that they are living wrong, thinking wrong, acting wrong and are headed to a tormenting hell if they don’t repent and change their ways. Not too long ago there was an entire family of siblings, parents, aunts and uncles that refused to leave the mall when one of the family members was asked because his pants were hanging down exposing his underwear clad rear-end. The parents resisted the police even with FORCE, choppers and SWAT were called before these people would go. IS THIS NOT THE MOST REDICULOUS SHOW OF REBELLION SET FORTH BY ADULTS?! ‘How offensive! How DARE anyone tell me that!’ Isn’t that the mentality today? ‘Well, I’m headed to heaven too. It doesn’t matter if I drink, cuss, smoke, & look at pornography. If I am a homosexual, live an immoral lifestyle, have sex with someone who isn’t my spouse then get rid of the life I’m not ready to raise. It’s okay to have a heart filled with malice, pride, hate, envy and strife. God is full of forgiveness and mercy‘. What do you say to a person who doesn’t have that basic, fundamental belief that God’s word IS the truth? That is completely blinded to their own sinfulness and desperate need to be saved from themselves, their sinful Adamic mentality? Nothing. You merely toss your pearls before the swine (Matthew 7:6). It’s going to take God’s spirit to deliver them out of darkness. We must not despise them, we must love them and pray for them.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest (they are evident), which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Galations 5:16-26

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, buy denying the power thereof: from such turn away. II Timothy 3:1-5

I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, hath he reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withered, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. Jude 5-13

I found myself reading and listening to all the panicky advice the world was giving me about buying shares in various companies, hoarding food, buying guns and ammunition, land, etc… and just allowing my thought process to go that way. He said, ‘invest in me, buy stocks in my ‘company’, invest in my house, give to those who are in need, have confidence in my ability to keep you to such an extent that you back it up by your thoughts and deeds.

TRUST IN THE LORD, AND DO GOOD: SO SHALT THOU DWELL IN THE LAND, AND VERILY THOU SHALT BE FED. DELIGHT THYSELF ALSO IN THE LORD AND HE SHALL GIVE THEE THE DESIRES OF THINE HEART. COMMIT THY WAY UNTO THE LORD; TRUST ALSO IN HIM; AND HE SHALL BRING IT TO PASS. AND HE SHALL BRINGFORTH THY RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THE LIGHT AND THEY JUDGEMENT AS THE NOONDAY. REST IN THE LORD AND WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM: FRET NOT THEYSELF BECAUSE OF HIM WHO PROSPERETH IN HIS WAY, BECAUSE OF THE MAN WHO BRINGETH WICKED DEVICES TO PASS. CEASE FROM ANGER AND FROSAKE WRATH, FRET NOT THEYSELF IN ANY WISE TO DO EVIL. FOR EVIL DOERS SHALL BE CUT OFF: BUT THOSE THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD, THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH. PS 37:3-9

If you want to buy stocks in a company, you choose a company that you trust. Really trust. You don’t want to loose your money-you are putting your money where your mouth is. Where your confidence is. You aren’t just “saying” you think this company will prosper, you are putting your means, your very heart, behind it.

WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE WILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO. MATTHEW 6:21

I never thought of this as a very profound scripture before today. Yet it is. What a person treasures, they invest in. Commitment, time, effort, money; all invested in what is really important to them. We invest in things we feel will come back and “bless” us in return-the stock market (in the old days), real estate, land, shares of a company, a talent (art or music ability), a sport (horse, ball, etc..), fitness (health, nutrition), material things, our children.. But do we have that same hope and zeal to give to the house and work of the Lord? Do we consider that an investment in our future that will yield a return? Or do we just write that tithe check every week-maybe not grudgingly- but of necessity? It has been necessity for me personally. I recently realized this.. My hope, confidence and trust has been in everything else BUT Him. It’s painful to realize and admit, but true nonetheless. The $99. I spent to learn about purchasing stocks in various companies with seemingly bright futures could have been given to world missions or to someone in need. All the world offers is more confusion! So much information, so many choices and voices-everyone telling you something different and swearing by it. It reminds me of when we first got horses; every horse person we met had some advice for us, it was ALL supposedly good advice and all different and all claimed they KNEW the right answer! I became so overwhelmed, it almost made me regret getting the horses in the first place!! What happens? Fear sets in, fear you are doing the wrong thing, listening to the wrong voice, following the wrong advice. This is soon followed by an overwhelming feeling, which then is followed by stress. I CAN’T DO THIS!! Then we loose sleep, we worry, we become irritable. Is this cycle familiar? I know it well. We better open God’s word and take off our worldly spectacles and really SEE what’s in there. We need to pray the blinders fall off and God gives us ears that can hear what He is saying to us.

TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL THINE HEART AND LEAN NOT UNTO THINE OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL THY WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS. PROVERBS 3:5-6

BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT WALKETH NOT IN THE COUNSEL OF THE UNGODLY, NOR STANDETH IN THE WAY (or path) OF SINNERS, NOR SITTETH IN THE SEAT OF THE SCORNFUL BUT HIS DELIGHT IS IN THE LAW OF THE LORD AND IN HIS LAW DOETH HE MEDITATE DAY AND NIGHT. AND HE SHALL BE LIKE A TREE THAT IS PLANTED BY THE RIVERS OF WATER, THAT BRINGETH FORTH HIS FRUIT IN HIS SEASON; HIS LEAF ALSO SHALL NOT WITHER; AND WHATSOEVER HE DOETH SHALL PROSPER. PSALMS 1:1-3

I WILL INSTRUCT THEE AND TEACH THEE IN THE WAY WHICH THOU SHALT GO: I WILL GUIDE THEE WITH MINE EYE. PSALMS 32:8

Jesus asked the question, when I return, will I find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8)? What are we really putting our faith in to keep us in the coming days?

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is sronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; & God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world; and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. That, everything as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
I Corinthians 1:26-31

The most liberating moments of my spiritual life have been those in which the Lord set aright my thoughts, not changed my circumstances. After salvation (age 20) and the Baptism of the Holy Ghost in a non-denominational, full-gospel church, I began the lengthy process of figuring out how to effectively live a life acceptable to God. Just as the 10 commandments were complicated and enlarged until they filled pages and pages of “law”, people are still today complicating God’s word. I learned firsthand that everyone has an opinion, an interpretation, a conviction, that they’ll gladly share with you-it’s human nature to want to be agreed with and accepted.

One day I read a message sent by David Wilkerson that caused me to catch a glimpse of the freedom and joy I had long since lost. I danced around my house rejoicing for the simplicity of the pure gospel of God. Man complicates the clean, pureness of God. When I got my hands on Debi Pearl’s book, Created To Be A Help Meet, I could clearly see how far I was from being obedient to God’s word and order. Obedience is better than sacrifice! Recognizing this rebellion in me made some things easy to change, others not so much. Was it really this simple?? Could it be true that if I am pleasing and honoring my husband, that I am obeying God and I am pleasing and obeying Him? (The book addresses if and when lines must be drawn.) Some women, especially those with unsaved or “steady”, middle of the road, no bells and whistles kind of husbands, put their pastor in the position of leadership over them that their husbands should be in. What a glorious moment when I realized that I did not have to please my pastor, relatives, teachers, elders, or my so-called friends. The only ONE man I had to please was the one whom I had chosen myself!

Likewise, another amazing time of my life was when I realized that I did not have to do what the school system does!! I do not have to value what they value, teach what they teach, or judge according to their standards. I did not have to compare my children to the world’s children, or expect the same things they expect on their time table!! I could determine what their individual abilities, strengths and likenesses were and decide what I deemed was of value; what qualities I wanted them to be equipped with:
Honesty, integrity, usefulness, morality, dependability, kindness, generosity, helpfulness, mercifulness, creativity, ability to improvise, thankfulness, sincerity. I want them to realize that there IS no truth apart from God’s word. To accept that God’s word IS the standard by which we may judge all things. I want them to have a hope that cannot be destroyed. Not a confidence in themselves, in their own ability to achieve and prosper; not a confidence in their credentials or education, their financial status, or government, men or an expectation that they’ll be treated fairly and justly, they won’t always. Instead we must have confidence in one thing and one thing only: Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today and forever.

Day in and day out Lord, season my words; annoint their ears to hear and eyes to see. Settle it deep within their hearts that you alone are God and there is none other!! You are not a hard taskmaster that is impossible to please; one that always wants just a little bit more than we are capable of giving. You did not write riddles and you did not give special revelation of your word to selected people to expound upon, You are just and you are good. You are fair and righteous in your ways. Your thoughts are high above our thoughts and your ways above our ways. You are not disagreeable, high-minded or arrogant. You are not a man that you should lie. You are not a complicator or deciever. You are a loving, merciful father; a faithful friend to your children. You are worthy of our trust and loyalty. You didn’t create a maze for us to try to find our way through, your ways can be made plain to us who shed our thoughts and opinions and have openness to receive yours.

Yes, there will be differences in Christians as long as we’re here. Something you abhor another Christian may accept, or vice-versa; it’s hard to not form opinions but it is not impossible!! The teaching in the New Testament is clearly directed toward this very conflict.

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law if fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Galations 5:13-18

The next verses in Galations go on to expound upon the works of the flesh and then describe the fruit of the Spirit, that we may judge ourselves according to the fruit that we are bearing.

Galations 6 then directs us some more:

Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For is a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. Galations 6:2-5

This sounds like a direct admonishment for those that have all these interpretations, convictions and opinions that they busy themselves living to the standard by which they deem acceptable and required by God. Not concerning themselves with what everyone else is doing. We all should have things that we once did that we no longer do. If we are the same as we were before salvation, then I dare say that we did not receive salvation. But the point is this: don’t judge other people according to yourself as if you have some special revelation from God; as though you contain the fullness of the truth and you yourself ARE the standard by which humanity may measure themselves. Only God’s word can take this high place and we must have the intelligence to realize that people have different thoughts and opinions and tendencies. As the scripture says, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes..“ We are commanded to walk in humility, in honor preferring others above ourselves. It’s so simple! Be pliable, be flexible. Easy to be entreated. If Jesus’ yoke is easy, who are we to place a heavy one upon the shoulders of a brother or sister in Christ?

For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
II Corinthians 10:12

For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law of Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker with you. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air; But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: let that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. I Corinthians 9:19-27

If you are sure you are right, then pray for and be an example to others. Have the fruits of the spirit evident in your life: love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. Treat others with genuine honor, forgiving those who have hurt you, praying for those who have wrongfully used you or persecuted you, that YOU may be called the children of God. It’s nearly impossible to find a church that believes “exactly” how you believe, so God’s word outlines our behavior. Of course it’s not easy, but it is possible. Pray, repent, read God’s word, and do it all again. Fast if you need to. Make the necessary sacrifice that you may be free!! And we can be worry FREE, animosity free, free from struggling to please and/or understand God AND PEOPLE! In fact, we should be free!! When we are burdened down with worry and concern we cannot be an effective reflection of liberty, joy, and God’s miraculous delivering power!! The world is watching us persevere, they are waiting to see if we will come out victorious, faith in tact and even stronger still, and they will stand in awe when we do.

Why does the earth spin? For Him. Why do you have talents and abilities? For Him. Why do you have money or poverty? For Him. Strength or struggle? For Him. Everything and everyone was exists to reveal His glory! Including you.
It’s Not About Me, Max Lucado

I got some much needed re-adjusting yesterday. This book was exactly what I needed to be reading. Then I got an email (Hell’s Best Kept Secret; YOUTUBE) explaining the parable of the rich young ruler. Jesus wasn’t very inviting to this man that questioned him about inheriting eternal life and I’ve pondered why. Jesus didn’t tell him any of the “good” stuff-He didn’t say, “you can have peace and hope and deliverance… instead He first questioned the mans understanding of ‘good’, then showed him the 10 commandments, then gave him a really difficult command: “sell all you have and give it to the poor and then come and follow me.” The man walked away saddened. Jesus was attempting to show the man that with his own ability, upon his own merit, with his own strength and goodness, he himself would be unable to meet the qualifications for eternal life. We can never be saved as long as we have this, “I’ve done all that stuff right since I was young, I’m a good person” mentality. Salvation requires a breaking down of that mentality; a realization that, “Hey, I am a mess and I need help. I am not good, I am not worthy of God’s goodness in my life, much less eternal life. I deserve death.” We must be convinced of the law as sinners. James chapter two is an attempt to show this very thing. Verse 10 tells us, ”For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” Romans 3:20 says is wonderfully, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin”. The law places the bar so high.. even unto perfection… and when we gaze into that law we are able to see just how far we miss the mark. Ironically, the closer we think we are to accomplishing such goodness just shows the reality that we are lightyears away from it! And when we gaze at the law and the standard of perfection with frustration and a feelings that we are a great big mess and can never, ever attain unto it.. and it is then that we are getting much closer!! That’s why our joy needs to become mourning and our laughter to weeping. Godly sorrow worketh repentence but the sorrow of the world worketh death. (II Corinthians 7:9-11) How is it that I can become so off course? Because God’s thoughts are not my thoughts.. our basic mentality is wrong. “Stinking thinking”, as one preacher put it. I am just amazed at how I manage to mess up mentally; at how I keep managing to put myself in the limelight: my wants and needs, my happiness and acceptance, my “goodness”, instead of the real truth. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. It is all about Him. His will, His plan, His timing. His Glory!! How liberating it is to let your joy, all the feelings you have for how “good” and “righteous” you think you are, become instead a realization of the huge mess you are… only to realize the awesomeness of God. How huge He is!!! How capable!!! He is making something amazing out of a pile of worthless dirt!! I can’t, but He CAN!!! I’m nothing, but He is everything!!!
We know that the law is spiritual. But I am not spiritual. Sin rules me like I am its slave. I don’t understand the things I do. I don’t do the good things I want to do. And I do the bad things I hate to do. And if I don’t want to do the bad things I do, then that means that I agree that the law is good. But I am not really the one doing these bad things. It is sin living in me that does these things. Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me-I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is not spiritual. I want to do the things that are good. But I don’t do those things. I don’t do the good things that I want to do. I do the bad things that I don’t want to do. So if I do things I don’t want to do, then it is not really me doing those things. It is sin living in me that does those bad things. So I have learned this rule: When I want to do good, evil is there with me. In my mind, I am happy with God’s law. But I see another law working in my body. That law makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and that law makes me its prisoner. This is terrible!! Who will save me from this body that brings me death? God will save me! I thank him for his salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord! So in my mind I am a slave to God’s law. But in my sinful self I am a slave to the law of sin. Romans 7:14-25; Easy-to-Read version.
So we then come around full circle: trading “our” joy for heaviness, our laughter for mourning, sorrow unto repentence and then we get His joy and His peace and His hope and His life. Trade our junk for His riches!! What an exchange!! Imagine to trade something temporary, something “fake”, something counterfeit for something REAL and eternally valuable!!
It’s been a real struggle for me lately. We moved our family to South Florida thinking we’d find fellowship here; we’d meet Christian families, we’d be a positive impact for God in the lives of people who did not know Him intimately. It was a new start, a fresh beginning in a new and beautiful place. I did not imagine the lonliness that I would experience, the hardness of heart that I’d find. And the disappointment in myself that I would still mess so many things up. You know, I’ve almost 38 years old. I’ve been serving the Lord for 18 years.. and still I find my reactions are 90% of the time not what they should be. 9 situations out of 10 I do the wrong thing, I say the wrong thing, my mentality is wrong. My kids still are not perfect. I still find myself questioning whether they’ll be “smart” enough to survive in the real world. They still seem to keen to copy my every personality flaw. Make my every mistake… but never seem to pick up on the “good” stuff. Huh…. IS THERE any “good” stuff??? We get weary in the flesh, don’t we? We manage to get our self, our emotions, our needs right in center stage. I do anyway. And I thank the Lord that as I was dusting the shelf I spotted this book by Max Lucado once again and picked it up and opened it weeks later. When I have started and stalled on this web-site so many times feeling like I am unqualified to talk to anyone about anything until I can get it all together for myself. Guess what, that’s never going to happen. You know, the kids watched yesterday a show on TV where they took unattractive, shy, quiet girl for 9 weeks and changed her from the inside out. This same girl was voted Homecoming Queen. It was the same old Cinderella story, yet amazing and exciting to watch again. God can take the person who is voted least likely to succeed, the person who is such a mess, so far from “perfect” and turn them upside down for Him. He did it to Saul of Tarsus, and He still does it today.
So, the message is this: I need the Lord. Desperately. Without Him, I would mess up within the hour. I would go the wrong way, do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, think the wrong thoughts. And that’s what we ALL do when He isn’t the very center of our lives. And the thing is that when we think we are okay is when we are far from okay.
Everything I do right, it is by the grace and help of the Lord. It’s not all about me.. or you. It doesn’t matter what we think about it. It matters what God thinks about it. And what He thinks is written in His word. Just like the moon, I have some major flaws. You don’t have to look to close to find them… I, in myself, have no “light”. No glory. But my job is to be a reflection of God’s light , of His glory. “Lord, show me your glory. Change my heart O God, make it ever true. Change my heart, O God, may I be like you. You are the potter and I am the clay; mold me and make me, this is what I pray. Let me not be like the man beholding himself in the mirror that goes his way and soon forgets what he saw there. In Jesus wonderful, powerful, glorious, mighty and precious name. AMEN.

Raising teens…

Since becoming a mother at the age of 20 and becoming a Christian when our oldest son was only 4 months old, we have done our absolute best to raise our three sons and our daughter in a stable, Christian environment. I have always felt in my heart that homeschooling was the best for the kids, though I haven’t always done it. I have had a lot of ups and downs, more than I care to remember, on that issue as well as many others. I didn’t raise the kids up with good behavior training habits, I’d do what most parents typically do, talk and warn and threaten until I lost my patience, then yell and discipline. I wish I had known then what I do now. I stumbled upon the writings of Michael and Debi Pearl several years back and made a lot of changes, but the changes didn’t really work until I read Created to be a Help Meet, by Debi Pearl; began to change my heart toward my husband then began rebuilding the foundation upon which the family is built, the marriage. You see, it came first (or at least was supposed to), the love between you and your spouse; your relationship, which must be in proper standing with God before you can properly raise your children. Our children ended up attending a charter school for three years during a time I was digesting changes that needed to be made in me, in our marriage and in the structure of our home. Suddenly teenagerhood is upon me and some metamorphasis occurs in them. Now I am not saying that every single teen has to stray away, absolutely he does not, and we dig deep, and sacrifice and go that extra mile to ensure that he doesn’t. Regardless, our tactics likely must change a bit regarding the way that we interact with our children, who are now on the threshhold of adulthood.

I have come up to so many brick walls—so many times I came to the end of me. God has never let me down though I’ve let Him down many times. I have made plenty of mistakes with my children. I have apologized to them many times. I have allowed them to see my weakness and failure and my need for the Lord in my life. When I have behaved badly, I ask for their forgiveness. They aren’t our little robots, they are people. We shouldn’t make our Lord seem like a hard taskmaster, nor should we be one. One thing I’ve realized in the last couple years, one place I think many Christian parents fall when their children hit the teen years, is that we keep using the strong arm tactics with them and it doesn’t work anymore. No longer can we force them to comply with our wishes or conform to our thinking. The book Jumping Ship, by Michael Pearl, was instrumental in helping me realize some major things that I was doing wrong. No longer will your disappointed comments, dirty looks and threats work. No longer can you physically bend them over your knee and give them a good whipping. I found myself looking up at a son with defiance on his face that physically could take me over his knee now. The sermons don’t seem to move him, the punishments seemed to make him more defiant and I found myself avoiding him in our own home. Not speaking to eachother. I felt anger, betrayal, and disappointment toward him and even found myself wishing I hadn’t had children at all. He seemed so distant, so hard, so angry and I was so confused as to how he got this way. I had given parenthood my all, with all my heart, I hadn’t done it the easy way, I hadn’t shipped them off for someone else to raise. I know how much I love him and how greatly I desire the very best for him. I asked myself over and over again, where did I go wrong? If you can relate to this, if you’ve been in this place, you need to read the book, Jumping Ship. Ask God to change your heart where it needs changing. You may have to read it over and over, as I have. You will definitely have to pray through & get a hold of God; but while there is breath, there is hope.

I am not promoting the ideaology that you just let them do as they please, come and go as they may, go to church if they want to, and guide themselves. The children are given to the parents to raise up in the right path, they need guidance, love and boundaries. Make the boundaries clear to your teens, make the consequences clear for their bad choices, make the blessings clear for their good ones. Make sure you pray with them, read the scriptures with them (we do a daily devotion before school), pray and ask the Lord to annoint your words, have a humble spirit yourself. You need to know where they are and who they are with, they must have accountability. I do not suggest smothering them to death, nor do I promote them coming and going as they please, there’s got to be a happy medium. My husband and I have made sure that the kids see and take notice of the examples all around them; people who are saved and serve the Lord wholeheartedly and the blessings,deliverances and guidance the Lord gives; then the people who are rebellious and hateful, with lives full of problems and addictions. Make sure they know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that every action has a reaction. Every decision has a consequence. I’ve read them books and articles about people that God has miraculously delivered and answered prayers for, as well as people who have lost everything even unto death for their actions. I have read the booklet, “Pornography-Road To Hell” to them, I have pointed out women who sell themselves, adults who touch little children (there was a known man in town who did this), allowed them to know the sick and perverted places people go and what demon spirits await for them there. I have allowed them to clearly know how bad mankind can become without Jesus; that we are all born in sin and without guidelines, training and consequences we would likely all end up in prison. They’ve proven this in real case studies and every chance I have had I have pointed it out, the vast difference between the wages of sin and the gift of eternal life. As my pastor said once, when my kids sin, I want them to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is wrong. There needs to be no question in their minds, make it clear.

All the prayers, all the fastings and tears, all the changes I have made in myself, all the soul searching, I still find myself raising up boys that have their necks craining into the world. There are no grandchildren in the kingdom of God, they have free will just like we do and they must choose to give their hearts and lives to the Lord. I have gotten myself so upset that I made myself physically ill. I had to give them to God again and say Lord, I have done my best, I know that I could have done better, I realize there was room for improvement, but I gave it my all, with all my heart. I tried to obey you, I tried to change what needed changing in me, do what needed doing. I did my best and now I need to give you this burden. I cannot carry it. Pray for them, make sure you are not directing your frustrations at them; spiritual warfare must be fought and won in the spirit. Pray, give it to God and don’t take it back. Remember how lost you once were, all the wisdom and comments that possibly were said to you that you just didn’t “get”, because until you are in that light you just don’t see. I know it’s hard, believe me I know. They aren’t grown and gone, they are right here in your house, eating your food, you’re washing their clothes that you bought, rubbing shoulders with them and it’s hard. But we must not grow weary in well doing, we will reap in due season if we faint not. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Our faith must be strong and sure, we must know in whom we have believed and be persuaded that He is completely able to keep everything we commit unto Him. Sing that song, ‘this joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me, the world didn’t give it and the world can’t take it away’. Love them, yes absolutely you better love them, but that doesn’t mean you love their choices. Loving them doesn’t absolve your duty to allow them to feel the consequences of their choices.

I strongly feel you need to keep all internet access locked from them, unless you are right there. Password protect the TV’s, monitor the music they are listening to, monitor their phone usage, look at the phone bills and see who they’re calling. Do a little search of their room, prepare your heart first for what you may find. I have prayed in their rooms & annointed their pillows more than once. If you have been lax on these issues it will be hard to put it in reverse, but boundaries must be drawn or anything goes. Limit their time with worldly people. God will give you the strength, the love, the wisdom and the peace that you need. You can do it, with God nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Please read, Jumping Ship, and earnestly search your heart and pray. I have stopped working on this site so many times because of the issues I am facing with my own kids, and I think, what do I have to say about successful parenting? I don’t feel very successful. So this isn’t written in retrospect, after the battle has been won and the walls have fallen down, we are still marching around the city blowing our trumpet, it is the here and now; but one day I will be able to write the happy ending.

Don’t throw in the towel, don’t give up, don’t become weary in well doing. Don’t give up on yourself or you kids. You can change and so can they, with the help of the Lord nothing is impossible!! You can do it, you can. Remember where your strength lies, remember that in honoring your husband, you honor the Lord, listen to him, it doesn’t matter if he seems like Mr. Spirituality to you, his authority is God-given. Get on his team, you two become a team together with God. God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Lean not to your own understanding but in all things acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path. Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

In the Mighty & Precious Name of Jesus.

The following is quoted from Morris Cerullo’s book titled:

YOU CAN KNOW HOW TO DEFEAT SATAN

It is a shame that so many natural warfares are waged in the name of spiritual causes… the Christians and Moslems fighting in Lebanon, the Catholics and the Protestants fighting in Ireland, the so-called Holy Wars of the ancient crusades.

The real battle of the true church is totally, purely spiritual in scope. The battles in your home or on your job, anywhere in your area of involvement should not be fisticuffs, guns, knives or even railing. Our battle is not with flesh and blood. It is not with a wife or a husband. It is not with our children. It is not with a boss or a fellow employee.

Our battle is with our spiritual enemy, Satan.

Just as our defensive armor which we have already studied is totally spiritual, our offensive weaponry is totally spiritual.

We can save ourselves a lot of hard lessons, we can save our testimonies a lot of criticism, if we keep this clearly in view. Many “messes” have been made, even in the ministry, by people who have taken matters into their own hands to try to “set things right”. Often violence has occurred because of this.

We must be violent, all right, but not violent to people. We are to do violence to Satan’s forces in the spirit world. Certainly his foeces seek to do violence to us and to the kingdom of God.

To seize the keys of dominion back from Satan we must be violently determined in the spirit.”

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12).

“Our violence is never in the natural arena at all, and neither are our weapons.”

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ:” (II Corinthians 10:3-5).

Spiritual Warfare

While I was reading that book, I was able to get a hold of a truth that I never had grasped before. Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time and a season for every thing. Spiritual warfare can never be won in the flesh, yet a fleshly warfare CAN be won in the Spirit!! We must get a firm grip upon the word of God for ourselves. We cannot depend on our pastor or Sunday school teacher to do it for us.

I was having a warfare in my home with rebellion. You know you can punish rebellion, and you very well should; but it must never be done in anger with a contentious spirit. You will never affect someone for good by treating them spitefully. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth always genders strife. A soft answer turns away wrath but grevious words stir up anger. It is oh so hard for me to return a soft answer for a sharp one, especially from my children. I have given them my all and to have them rise up and challenge me is very difficult. It has taken a whole lot of battles, frustrations and tears to come to the real, heart knowledge that I absolutely CANNOT fight fire with fire or railing with railing. One day while my teenage son was slamming around (and I was slamming right back) a scripture came to mind, we war not against flesh and blood. BUT LORD, it sure seems like my battle is against flesh and blood!! The Lord said to me, he may make you unhappy by his actions but inside he himself is much more miserable. He is the victim as well as I am but even more so, because he really doesn’t “know” the answer like you do. When you fight against him you get side-tracked from the REAL enemy, Satan.

Direct your prayers against your real enemy, Satan. Bind him in prayer using God’s word. That is what Jesus himself did. This spiritual warfare must be waged in the spirit realm.

”Verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever things you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18).

We must learn that we cannot take our aggression out on the flesh that’s coming against you, take it out on the spirit that is coming against God’s Spirit. Read some good old bible stories & get yourself a real glimpse of God’s power. Repent where you need to repend, change where you need to change, correct what needs correcting, forgive where you need forgiving, pray with faith believing Jesus WILL help you. KNOWING that He will help you. There are a lot of situations that seem impossible, believe me, I have faced and will face more of those; and certainly they are impossible in our finite flesh… ”BUT with God, NOTHING shall be impossible” (Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27, Luke 1:37, 18:27).

We must realize that refusing to accept or show love to someone until they completely conform to our expectations of them is wrong & will only alienate that person. What if God treated us that way? What if He turned a cold shoulder to our prayers until we got all our issues resolved? We’d be in big trouble. He, being a just, perfect and sovereign God, would actually have the right to do that; but we, being imperfect ourselves, are totally out of line putting ourselves up on some pedestal and having the mentality that we are the standard by which others should be judged. It is by the grace of God that we have what we have, that we have made it as far as we have made it. Hear it, but the GRACE OF GOD, the goodness, forgiveness, and mercifulness of the creator of the world, who does ALL things well and yet still reached down to us, wallowing in sin and confusion, and had mercy on our rotten soul. When we accept God’s forgiveness for our wickedness and run out and start grabbing others by the nape of the neck telling them how they need to straighten up their acts, we are in big trouble with God. Read the story of the wicked servant who did this same thing in a parable Jesus told. Obviously we’d love to see others find what we have found, we can and we should testify to them about the goodness of God and the salvation that we have found, but that’s a far cry from being judgmental and self-righteous. Beware of the leaven of the Scribes and the Pharisees, this is another fine line that we can find ourselves crossing. We must judge ourselves that we won’t be judged. Are we being motivated by pure love? We considering one another, to provoke unto love and good works? Are we finding ourselves tripping over various issues that the Lord himself spent little or no time at all in his ministry focusing on? Consider the following account in Matthew 12:1-8:

At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold (LOOK!), thy disciples do that which is UNLAWFUL to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For ALL the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love they neigbour as theyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest (obvious), which are these;

Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things will not inherit the kindgom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is:

Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirious of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

—Galatians 5:13-26

What are you professing?

We must learn to stop saying negative things, no matter how things look in the physical. Remember that old saying we heard when we were kids? “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me?” I quoted that to my son when he was little and he looked at me and said, “that’s not true mom. Words do hurt”. I pondered that and said, you know what, you are right. Words most certainly can and do hurt us, and healing actually is more difficult. Even our own words hurt us.. our negative words. Realize that the devil is not able to read your mind or know what you are thinking, he can only read us by our actions and our words. Again I ask you, WHAT ARE YOU PROFESSING? WHAT AM I PROFESSING? Am I merely quoting positive words and scriptures with a long face of dread and foreboding? If so, I’m not fooling anybody. Take it to a higher level; believe and you shall receive.

Guard Your Thoughts

In the old testament a person actually had to commit a crime for it to be a sin. In the New Testament Jesus changed took this to a higher level of accountability, He said when you ponder the sin in your mind, you committed it in your mind, and it’s just the same as if you actually committed it physically. We must guard our thoughts and consider the source of them. The prayer of our heart must be as David’s was:

”Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).

We must know God’s word well enough to be able to tell if a thoughts or a feeling we have line up with God’s word & ways. We cannot depend on our own feelings to guide us. It doesn’t matter what we think about it, no matter how adamantly we feel concerning an issue-it only matter what God says about it. People go off on tangents based upon their own likes or dislikes with extreme, vehement emotion. How much focus does God’s word place on the issue? What does the word say? Carefully consider God’s word with regard to your issue. If your feelings don’t line up-change them. Ask Him to change them. If the enemy is warring against you, consider your ways, repent, seek the Lord’s peace and guidance, read His word, meditate upon it. Say positive words, submit yourself unto God, be not moved in your faith no matter what trial you are facing, resist the devil and he HAS to flee from you. It is God’s word! Do you believe it? He will make a way of escape from every temptation to sin-and doubting Him is a grave sin.

Time to Sit at His Feet

Take time in the word, time to learn of Him, and time to fellowship with Him. This used to be a real problem for me, finding the quiet time. I’ll never forget a couple years after I was saved I was getting up really early to read and one of my sons woke up, all smiles and brightness, and I was very disgusted with him because it was MY quiet time. The hurt look on his little face convicted my heart to the core and a scripture came to mind, OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE. You may not always be able to schedule this time of meditation, study and prayer; surely if you have children and especially if you homeschool them, it will be difficult to find “alone” time. The Lord allowed me to know that He would supply the times; when daddy takes them to the pond to fish, or runs to the store with them, or they go on a trail ride, I would feel the quickening, “go pray”. Read a scripture here and there, think on the things of God, the promises of God, the goodness of God all through the day. Devotions and prayer with the kids before school, singing hymns and praise songs, listening to Christian music, talking about Him as you walk by the way. It is a life you lead, not a few minutes at a prescribed time, but all the time. Now that they are older it is much easier than when they were small to find that “alone” time, so it does get better.

The Necessary Option

The Baptism of the Holy Ghost is absolutely necessary, as far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t want to have to live without it. I need the fellowship that only the baptism in the Spirit can bring. The Baptism of the Holy Ghost is like having a direct line to the heart of God. I remember after I received the Holy Ghost I felt literally as if God was walking right beside me everywhere I went. Like when I prayed I knew He was listening and many times He has spoken back. It is real, it is for us TODAY, don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t.

”IF ANY OF YOU LACK WISDOM, LET HIM ASK OF GOD WHO GIVETH TO ALL MEN LIBERALLY, AND UPBRAIDETH NOT, AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN HIM. BUT LET HIM ASK IN FAITH, NOTHING WAVERING. FOR HE THAT WAVERETH IS LIKE A WAVE OF THE SEA DRIVEN WITH THE WIND x%x TOSSED. FOR LET NOT THAT MAN THINK THAT HE SHALL RECEIVE ANYTHING OF THE LORD” (JAMES 1:5-7).%

Be Settled in Your Faith

Your faith must be settled, you must know in whom you have believed in and be fully persuaded that He is able to keep every single thing you commit unto Him until your final day on this earth. I love to read Psalm 104 & consider exactly who God is. Is there anything too hard for God? As difficult a case as I am, He knew it & he took me on anyway. He saved me, He picked me up out of the miry clay and planted my feet upon a rock and established my goings. He put a new song in my mouth. He delivered me because He delighted in me. All man could see was a troubled girl with a big attitude-with more issues to work through than your average individual. Did He bring me this far to watch me fall flat on my face? Will He forsake the work of His hands? Settle it right now in your heart who God is! How great and how powerful He is. He has ALL power in heaven AND in earth! Satan is not in control of your life if you serve the Lord, no matter what bad things may happen.

”We know that ALL things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

”My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in Him at all times: ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us. Selah [think about it]” (Psalm 62:5-8).

You are God’s, You love Him (that’s why you’re reading this right now) & He loves you. As much as you love your own children, God loves you more than that. You must believe that He is there, He is in control. Your faith must be strong. ”Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is AND that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Don’t be like the children of Israel & die in the wilderness when your promised land is over the next horizon— HOLD ON TO WHAT YOU KNOW.

”And when you’ve done all to stand, stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints…” (Ephesians 6:13-19).

Bitterness of Heart

”Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;” (Hebrews 12:14-15).

”Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given hiself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Ephesians 4:31-5:2).

There are many more scriptures like the ones I chose above. We realize, as Christians, that people in the world are going to offend us, or we should. We are going to be misunderstood and avoided by people who don’t really know Jesus as their personal saviour. It’s nothing personal against you, their beef is with God. We must be careful not to purposefully offend people in the world; it’s a fine line to tread. We should have a certain amount of fellowship with these people, but we can’t really let them past a certain point in our lives. I have found it much easier to forgive people who don’t possess true salvation because they really don’t understand what we understand.

Christians, on the other hand, people you consider your equal spiritually speaking; they have been saved, forgiven, changed forever and you have let them in your heart. You have opened up the very most vulnerable parts of yourself to them and they have offended you. Maybe you were spitefully treated, misunderstood, unappreciated, wrongfully accused, wrongfully judged, or ignored by them. David felt the same way:

”False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul. But as for me, when they were sick my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or my brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother. But in my adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:” (Psalm 35:11-15).

”Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9).

The Bait of Satan, by John Bevere, is a must read if you are struggling with offense. Locate and study God’s word on the subject. I love my Thompson Chain Bible, it is excellent for topical study. And pray, pray, pray. That is the key. If we were capable of “fixing” ourselves, we wouldn’t need the Lord, would we? We can deny it, we can pretend it isn’t there, we can pretend we’ve dealt with it, but until we really do, we are at a standstill in our spiritual lives. Whether it is a real or perceived offense, it is there in our hearts and it will absolutely bring us to ruin left undealt with. Bitterness is a cancer that destroys.

COUPONING seemed like a waste of time for me when we were first married. It just seemed cheaper and easier to buy store brands. When I ended up working for a good friend in her couponing business, I learned a lot of things. The real tricks of the trade… combine those coupons with sales! Here in Florida we don’t have the benefit of double and triple coupons, but it is advantageous to combine the coupons with the sales IF YOU make sure that you are sticking to buying items that you need and use… not buying just because it’s cheap. We have the Sunday paper delivered, I check out the coupons and the sale ads, then go to The Coupon Clippers and, for a reasonable handling fee, stock up on the coupons that I know I will use. After you have done this for a while, you will see what types of brands and products the grocery stores put on sale most often, and you’ll know better what types of brands and products the grocery stores put on sale most often (there is a cycle), and you’ll know better what coupons to get.

The more time you have to invest in researching sales and going to different stores to take advantage of these sales, the more money you will save. Rachael, on her site (thecouponclippers.com) posts a lot of the “deals” that are out there on that week. I am pretty busy so I don’t go to that particular store unless it is really worth my while. It is possible to save a lot of money using these techniques! The key is to stock up on the products you use when there’s a good deal.

If you have a Costco or a Sam’s around, these are the best places to get a lot of things. Especially items like toilet paper, paper towels, foil, napkins, paper plates, pet food, etc.. Costco seems to me to be a more health conscious store, they have a lot of organic and natural products. Costco offers an annual rebate on your purchases also.

I have learned a lot about health and nutrition at our Maximized Living office here in West Palm Beach. I love the positive atmosphere, and I love that our Dr. Matt Symons is a man that loves the Lord and desires to please Him. I have learned WHY it is that the Spirit of the Lord firmly planted in my heart a screaming NO to medicating my child into a zombie so he could sit still in class and not disrupt. THANK GOD! Just go to Generation Rx and watch the movie and you’ll see what I mean! My husband, myself and our children get spinal adjustments regularly. I know that the Lord sent me there particularly because I was suffering a lot with headaches, backaches, neck pain, sinus problems, hormonal problems, premature aging, among other things. I had gone to the Dr. and came out with three medications that I needed to take basically forever, which would not fix anything, only put a bandaid on a wound that would have taken my life eventually. I was in phase two degeneration, I had a reverse curve in my spinal column and probably would have been dead in another 10 years just like countless patients just like myself. I was 36! Dr. Matt said that my neck had been this way for 20 years.. I had a wreck when I was 16 years old that should have killed me and from that time on my neck had been messed up and I never knew it! I had even had Xrays done by a chiropractor in those 20 years but he didn’t say one word. Not all chiropractors are the same people, trust me on this fact. Just like not all preachers are the same or all lawyers, etc.. etc..

I urge you to go to this site: Maximized Living and find an office near you. A lot of times the initial consult is free. You will learn so much about so many things that are VITALLY important. Eating the proper foods, loosing weight, getting off medications, getting rid of pain, among a few. It WILL change your life and the lives of your loved ones, I promise you it will.

You will learn there about toxicity. Do you think it’s amazing that America is such a sick country? We use toxic products everyday and we subject our babies and our children to them. One change that I quickly made after learning this was my cleaning products. Several years back I used Melaleuca’s natural cleaning products but I used them for economics sake, they come concentrated so one bottle of window cleaner, for example, makes 5 spray bottles. So it lasted a long time! And I loved the products, they didn’t make me sick to smell them, yet the house smelled nice and clean after I used them. I wasn’t committed then though to using non-toxic products so I just reverted back to buying Windex at the store because it was more convenient. But when I made a commitment to using natural products, I was calling 411 to get melaleuca’s phone number and getting signed up again. I finagled $100 a month to my Melaleuca order and I get all my cleaning products and laundry products from them every month. They have great programs going, like for example for the first 5 months you are a customer you get $20 worth of products for free when you order a 35 product point order. Which is equivalent to about $80 including tax and shipping. They have all types of products from the great cleaning and laundry stuff to beauty items and soaps, body washes and lotions, deodorant and toothpaste and supplements. I enjoy sitting down and looking at their monthly specials and placing my order. They are a great company too. The couple times I had a problem and had to call them, they’ve been polite, haven’t asked me 20 questions (like my mother’s maiden name and my first dogs name-UGHHH) and have exceeded my expectations concerning the issue I was contacting them. They are like Mary Kay or Home Interiors also, you can make good money selling fantastic, NATURAL products from home on your time schedule! What could be better than that?! So, if you’re interested go to Melaleuca and learn more.

Money Matters…

People in this world are struggling; worrying and consumed with fear concerning the future. Their faith, trust, & confidence are in the things of the world and the world is shaking. They have lots of questions & no answers. They are in absolute darkness—they truly do not know or understand, are unable to comprehend just what difference God could really make in their lives. In every aspect, not just spiritually & emotionally, but mentally, physically, & financially.

God’s principles are so often the complete opposite of ours. He says, ”For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

God’s principles don’t often come naturally for us. It is usually with some effort on our parts that we come around to His way of thinking. We must choose to forsake our ways and take on His. The principle of tithing is only one example. There are many more such as: Love your enemy… Bless them that curse you… Pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you… Don’t render evil for evil, or railing for railing but contrariwise a blessing… Praise in the midst of trials… Don’t worry about tomorrow… In EVERYTHING give thanks!! Give so that ou may receive… This is some kind of strange thinking, huh? Blessed is he that mourns… Humble yourselves so that you may be exalted… Alright, this just plain makes no sense, does it??

My husband and I have faithfully tithed since we got saved in 1992. We haven’t faithfully given above that 10% but we have been steady tithers. We have seen the Lord do so many things for us, move so many obstacles, change so many situations; I mean bless us beyond what we could ever ask or even think. He’s given us favor time and time again, given us wisdom in situations, led, guided and directed our footsteps. What would happen when we began to give above that 10%? Truly amazing things!

So, tithe. Be faithful to God’s work, be obedient to God’s command:

”Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call your blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:10-12).

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake Gennesaret,
And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fisherman were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at they word I will let down the net.
And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they would come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken.
And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
—St. Luke 5:1-10

We were right in the middle of a building program at our church when a guest speaker came and preached to us on a Wednesday night, his text the above scriptures. At a time of recession, when gas is astronomically high and rising, food prices seem to be increasing weekly, the cost of just living is rising, we are living paycheck to paycheck and dipping into our savings to just pay the bills at the end of the month; the government decides to send us some money and the pastor suggests that we all give it to build this church!? We ARE already faithful tithers… This is where I was at when these scriptures were read that night. The speaker didn’t really start right off with finances, it was all about trusting Jesus, but somehow it finagled around to trusting Him with our finances. I later found out that our pastor did not share our church’s pressing building fund needs with this man, or the two speakers before who also spoke on the subject. Suddenly the Spirit of the Lord began dealing with me and I was presented with a dilemma… What is all you have worth to you? All your savings… all your means. Would you write a check for every penny of it, if you possibly could, in exchange for even one of your childrens’ souls? I can say to you that you can’t buy souls and you can’t, it’s not that… But peradventure… Would I give it all IF it could work that way? What about a sick person, a person who’s done everything from the medical standpoint and who’s prognosis is grim, who is going to die and/or is suffering and in pain daily; Would they give all they had to be well? I dare say they would.

The speaker told of a day he came to the pulpit and spoke to the congregation of pressing financial needs and a lady got up and left. An usher followed her, asking her what was wrong. She said incredulously, “I don’t sleep at night, I am constantly bombarded with problems and torments, I have thus and thus and thus wrong in my life and I need help, and all he wants to do is ask us for money?!” Have I ever had this mentality? Have you?

After Peter had fished all night, toiled the bible says, doing all that fishermen do, he had caught NOTHING. He was struggling, surely bills were due, this was his bread and butter! When he was discouraged and disheartened & full of despair… depressed (all D..evil words) Jesus came and asked, Can I use your boat? Jesus didn’t come with miracles and great words of encouragement, he didn’t offer to help or even seem to notice that Peter was struggling, first he asked of him. Then even after that He besought Peter to push him out into the water! Peter could have been aghast, as the woman who left the service was. Here I am, full of problems and you’re asking MORE of me??? But he didn’t.

After Jesus had finished speaking, he told Peter to launch out into the deep and let down his net for a draught. Peter obeyed, possibly with slumped over shoulders and skepticism, but he obeyed. And the multitude of the catch almost sank not only his boat but his friends as well!!

Giving of yourself, you time, your confidence, your “means”, your finances; is an act of faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. When we are afraid to give in an area—of ourselves, our time, our resources, our finances; we are showing a lack of confidence in God. It is merely outward evidence of our inner distrust. I realized this night that though I really thought I trusted God completely, I really did not. What is a few hundred dollars or even a few thousand to God? Does He NEED our money… really? Heavens no. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Leaders are raised up and they are casted down, nations rise and fall at His command! He created EVERY SINGLE thing we see and know, including ourselves. The sun would stop shining and even time itself stand still… the rain would not come down or not cease to come down and even the animals find their voice at God’s command! Realize who He IS! Deal with your distrust of Him! Why do I not trust God completely with our finances and resources? Abraham believed God and that belief was counted to him as righteousness. He said, I will offer to God my son, my promised son, my most prized possession. I waited for 20 years for this beloved son, but the Lord gave him to me and the Lord can even raise him up from the dead again. God will provide a sacrifice. If ever someone would have wanted to and could have justified before anyone withholding such a sacrifice, it was Abraham. He could have run out of there and said God was a hard taskmaster. He could have allowed his flesh to rise up easily to reason and make excuses but he didn’t do that. He TRUSTED, he truly BELIEVED God. The “Believe” that has action attached to it.

The next day the scriptures had a different meaning to me… a deeper meaning. “I will trust and not be afraid”... Do I really trust Him? If He asked me to empty out every dollar from savings when our credit is extended to the max and there isn’t any left after paying bills… Can I do that and say with confidence as Abraham did, God will provide? As Job said.. though he slay me, yet will I trust Him. We should be to that place in our confidence that we can obey without hindrance. Uninhibited by fear and anxiety. When everything we see with our eyes and trust in with our future fails… when the economy is plunging downward and our equity has dissolved… when all the prices go up and our paycheck isn’t. When our savings is gone and the list of needs seems to be growing longer…. Will our confidence waver? Will we discover that our “believe” isn’t really up to par like we thought it was? Will we find ourselves clutching tightly to our treasure? Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Lord help us to lay up for ourselves treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves cannot break through and steal. Sow your seed in God’s kingdom that you may reap a harvest!!! (Look at the last verse again.)

Back to the story I began, we decided to give the entire check that we would be getting from the government to the building of the church. We hadn’t received it yet, and so we hadn’t given it yet, but we settled it in our hearts to give it and had peace about it. We had promised a certain amount of it before but now we decided to give every penny. I had managed to get past that doubt that we’d have enough, that we’d make it, and made the decision to really, REALLY trust in my Lord. The following Sunday service, our almost 13 year old son was filled with the Holy Ghost! We gathered up front to pray for a man who was very sick, one of our sons and our daughter joined us, before long he was praying with tears streaming down his face, hands lifted in surrender. This was the most precious Mother’s Day gift I could ever hope for. We didn’t decide to give that money thinking about what we would get in return, but we were putting our belief into action by obeying what God entreated of us through the shepherd of our flock. God rewarded that little bit of faith with something far more precious than money could buy. You can never out give God! Muster up every little ounce of faith you can, trust Him even when it hurts, settle it in your mind once and for all. TRUST HIM! Lord Jesus, help us to seek first your kingdom.. then watch how you open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing we can hardly contain!

You think that’s all? That’s not all! About two weeks later my husbands’ boss decided he wanted to do something for us… he asked my husband what he’d like better… a bonus, a weekly increase… what? My husband shared with him that we are struggling with some debt and that probably the weekly increase would be most beneficial that we can pay more on our debt. He said, you have debt? I’ll help you with that; he then gave us $3000. toward that debt!!! Now, what is that scripture again? EXCEEDINGLY, ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL WE COULD ASK OR EVEN THINK!! Taste and see that the Lord is good! He is worthy of our trust… for He IS truly wonderful!

And still, that is not all!! My husband was blessed with about $2100 cash that was completely unexpected a couple days later. So, get this now… we gave the $2,400 that the government gave to us and God filled our son with the Holy Ghost AND blessed us with $5,100. within a two week period!!! That is almost 50% more than what we gave! I was amazed to actually see it happen but I am not surprised at the same time because our Lord is FAITHFUL and HE IS GOOD.

So if the Lord puts something on your heart to give, or if someone asks of you and you feel the prodding of the Lord… just step out in faith and see what will happen! Hallelujah to our wonderful, wonderful Lord!

My child has one or several symptoms such as…

Memory problems, difficulty concentrating, trouble grasping concepts that require memorization, lack of self control, temperamental, difficulty getting to sleep, winding down… Very schedule oriented, doesn’t react well to changes of scenery or routine, sudden mood swings, low self esteem, poor attitude, forget to do things normally considered routine, have a one track mind, very easily distracted, under attentive OR over attentive, given to extremes, moody. Also, extremely creative and ingenuous, create solutions for everyday problems, have a lot of common sense, have tons of energy, a good worker at times, sometimes seem over confident, do well with younger children and animals,doesn’t assess risks and danger well…

It didn’t take me too long to figure out that my second son was a lot different than the first. Our first son was cautious, he didn’t want to make a scene, he wanted to hold my hand and stay close to me in public places, he feared getting lost or loosing mommy. The second son didn’t know what fear or caution was. He’s wander where ever we were, he didn’t think about danger one bit. He was the one, when I had son number three and daughter (child #4) that had to be literally harnessed with a rope, or I would loose him. He had no interest in writing his name or when that time came and seemed to have no memory whatsoever for letters or numbers. He’d often write his name backwards and later when he’d try to sound out words he’d sound out letters that weren’t even in the word. It was almost as if the letters were floating all over the page, he had such a difficult time. He could barely sit still and was always moving in some way. He didn’t even sit still to watch TV or play games, he was too busy seeing how things worked, he’d wander off looking at nature and forget that I’d wonder where he was. Cleaning his room was practically impossible, and he wanted to keep every little gadget he found from the time he was two years old. I bought him a case to keep it all in. He’d wander off in the store when he wasn’t strapped and I’d get frantic thinking I’d lost him and he’d be under the racks, sliding under shelves finding nuts and bolts. He’d be so dirty from being on the floor, look like a little homeless child, grinning ear to ear with his pockets stuffed full of “treasures”. He climbed everything, then jumped off it. He rode his bike faster, made ramps higher, even jumped off our 20’ roof into our pool when he was 13 (he got in big trouble for that one). He managed to make it so far without any broken bones, only about 40 stitches in various locations so far. His temperament was extreme, he’d be happy one moment and mad the next and I wouldn’t even know what changed him. I learned to use that to my advantage though, I’d tickle him or hug him when he was mad and just as quick he’d be happy again. This is the child that almost totally had his self esteem crushed in the school system, this type of child doesn’t fit in a school setting without being in trouble constantly and always compared to other children. He is the child they recommend diagnosis and medication for. There’s nothing wrong with him, he is how God made him to be, but he doesn’t fit in quite so easily. I went on a bike ride with my other son last evening and my bike was just giving me a fit, it was so hard to pedal. My son was riding his creative genius brother’s bike and he offered to trade with me. I couldn’t believe how easy his bike was to pedal. I could have gone miles. I asked him later, why is your bike so easy to pedal? He laughed, I took off the brakes and all that useless junk to make it lighter. I air my tires to such and such pressure and I oil the bearings, on and on he went. I said, can you do that to my bike? LOL

How many parents out there have children that exhibit one, several, or ALL of these traits? Parents react in different ways toward this child who is probably more difficult to raise than their others; some discipline more, some nag and complain at this child more, some have them diagnosed and seek counseling and medication for them, many do that. They struggle, they symptomize, they have them diagnosed because they genuinely want to understand & help their child function “normally”, but it somehow backfires when the kid is glued to labels, low expectations & medications.

There are many titles for it, and you can surely get a diagnosis if you seek one. I’ve read about lots of them and my son fits under several of these headings. As parents we have to recognize & realize this kid is different. His needs are different, his capabilities are different; he may never fit in to a school setting without tearing apart his self esteem & keeping him from constantly being in trouble. My son spent more hours sitting in the hallway, cubicles, corners, the clinic (alone) & the principal’s office than he did in class I think. They said he was a disruption to himself & others. He tapped his toe, he wriggled in his desk, he stared out the window, he never focused on his work, many times getting no further than writing his name on it. He would not allow people to view him as the “dumb kid” so if he didn’t know an answer when called on (which was a lot of the time) he would act up and get in trouble. He was accused of just being rebellious, they said he really could do it, but I knew he couldn’t because I had homeschooled him before. I knew what he was capable of. In fact, the main reason I gave up and put them in school was because I felt that I was a failure as a teacher and that I needed to let the “professional” teachers teach him.

Many, many concepts taught in school are based on memory skills. Reading, math facts, time tables, are a few. I survived in school by merely remembering information long enough to pass a test. This child cannot do this. He didn’t read well until he was 8 or 9 years old & he got it by pure phonics. He would have to sound every single word out, even if it was on the same page twice. His memory was practically nonexistent. Some days were better than others, which confused me even more and made me think he was just “not trying”. I taught him to read at home after he had repeated kindergarten twice and first grade once because he just couldn’t “get it”. It took a lot of repetition and it was a very frustrating process for me because, at that time, I was consumed with ages and levels, I put a lot of pressure on him to “get with the program”. Constantly comparing him to his brothers or to other children, which obviously was dumb on my part and only cropped up attitude in him.

By the time he learned to read he could have taught someone else to. At his last homeschool evaluation he read vocabulary words on 10th and 11th grade levels while he was working on elementary level work because of his phonetic ability. He scored higher than did his highschool aged brother on vocabulary!

After three years in a charter school and the situations I described going on, after meeting with teachers and principal, after pleadings, I took him out. The Lord dealt with me strongly to do this and I was apprehensive, majorly digging in my heels because I had tried before, TWICE before and FAILED!!! But the third time was the charm for me, it was for the right reasons this time. After several months of de-programming and un-stressing, unit studies & a more unschooling approach I used a diagnostic test to place him in a math curriculum. I started him where his gaps started, and didn’t stumble over how many year it was behind where he was “supposed to be”. I once read that all the major math concepts needed in the “real” world, such as used in everyday practical & consumer math are covered by grade 5. After seeing my older sons’ math portion of the exam for his High School diploma, I definitely agree.

I am so proud of how well he is progressing. His confidence has tripled since being home this time. While we do unit studies and I am PRO the unit study type approach, he is working right now on some Math and Reading LightUnits. He usually does this work at night, all by himself, when the house is quiet, it’s dark outside and there are no distractions. He merely leaves blank the answers he doesn’t know and the next day we go over it. He is soaking in concepts that I never in a million years thought he would remember and understand. I have always known how bright he is, these are the Thomas Edisons and the Henry Ford’s of today. When’s the last time your boss asked you at what age you learned your time tables? Or at what age you learned how to read well? WHO CARES?! You got it, that’s all that matters. We are comparing our children with other children, we are judging them SLOW or ADVANCED, DUMB or SMART, but their performance on a STANDARDIZED TEST and labeling them accordingly!!! My step father, Angel, was from Puerto Rico, he came here when he was 17 years old, to have a better life. He worked hard, he learned English, and he was Assistant Plant Manager of our local high school. He never did learn to read and write English, which was the only reason he wasn’t the Plant Manager. He was a good man. I’ll never forget the year that the principal of the school, which had a PhD degree, gave Angel a lawn mower he had recently bought that just wouldn’t work. He said, you can have the stupid thing, it doesn’t work. Angel gladly brought it home and started checking it out to see what the problem was. He got to laughing so hard we couldn’t understand what he was saying. The mower was purring like a kitten. He said, “It needed gas!!!”. Thank God for a man with a little common sense. Angel offered to give the mower back but the Dr. principal didn’t want it, so we got a nice, new mower as a reward for Angel’s common sense!!!

All of our children have good and bad qualities. They all have things that are difficult for them, whether it is learning or sharing or obeying, etc… Our job as parents isn’t to MEDICATE their negatives away but it is to TEACH them to recognize their weaknesses and enhance their strengths. There are practical ways, like eating right, getting enough sleep, making sure they are physically well. (After reading an article on Sleep Apnea, I discovered my son suffered from this and after his tonsil/adenoid removal the quality of his sleep greatly improved). I found at the Dollar store some sticker multiplication charts, my sons confidence rose incredibly just by sticking on of these to his clipboard. Up to that time every time there was a multiplication table he would have to draw lines and figure it out because they refused to allow him to consult a chart at school. He was actually sent to the office for cheating. I’m not talking about a fact test here either, but long multiplication problems require the memory of a lot of different facts as well as knowing (remembering) the process of what you do first, what you do second, and so on. He would get a couple problems done and give up. You try to do 387×243 drawing lines for every multiplication fact and see how long it takes. Then he’d get an F. I taught him how to be a good test taker and he would always amaze them when it was FCAT time because he scored highly. That’s very possible just using the process of elimination. They’d put him way in the back by himself just to make sure he wasn’t cheating, they couldn’t figure out how he could score so well, and that further make them think he was just putting on in class. He could buckle down and focus on a test like the FCAT, I told him to view it as a challenge, think of it as someone trying to trick him into choosing the wrong answer. I told him to eliminate the answers he knew it couldn’t possibly be, even if he didn’t know exactly what the answer was for sure, he could greatly improve his score by using a few common sense strategies. I quit school in 10th grade after I got in a very serious car accident, and got married at the age of 16. My schooling stopped there. Using good test taking strategies, I scored in college level on the tabe test a couple year back. That’s why I am so opposed to the ridiculous importance the school board places on ACHIEVEMENT TESTS. Teachers get bonuses based on their kids scores, and many days in school are focused on nothing but FCAT Preparation.

We must realize and teach our children that we all have limitations to what we are capable of, and when we reach those limits, no pill can fix it. I don’t care if it’s an adult with depression or anxiety or nervousness or hormonal problems or pain or it’s our kid with distraction, inability to sit still, focus and concentrate. Now, don’t get me wrong, if you don’t have Jesus, you better feed them the pill. But Christians have another hope that the world does not have, we have a God who is greater, who is ABLE to do exceedingly, abundantly MORE than we could ask or EVEN think! Why did the children of Israel die in the wilderness? Because they could not get to the place that they could have confidence in the Lord. Unbelief. There is no way in the world that if you, a Christian, say I will not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, I will not medicate my child or myself, if you give it your best shot, if you pray and you ask the Lord to help you change, help you be what you need to be for your husband and your children, GOD WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN.

Through every trial with the schools, through every frustration I had with him, I knew & still know that if my children will serve the Lord then they will be blessed coming in and going out. If they don’t, they won’t. This has been proven true in my life and my husbands life, who also struggled in school and is now running the entire south Florida division of his company. God IS good. With God nothing shall be impossible – He will make a way where there seems to be no way. He will make a highway in the wilderness for us; the Lord loveth the righteous and His ear is open to their prayers. He will turn our mourning into dancing, He will turn our sadness into gladness. We don’t listen to the report of the world, we don’t stand in the path of sinners, we don’t judge things according to appearance, we walk by faith and not by sight.

Ok Lord, you say, I see what is best for my child, I know the hopes that I have for him but I can’t do it. I’m afraid (first problem) that I will fail, that I’m not smart enough or patient enough or creative enough. I said all of these things. Moses said some things to this effect to, didn’t he? I pleaded with God; He listened to all my pitiful excuses and said to me, My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is made perfect in weakness. Some say God will not ask you to do something you aren’t capable of doing, I disagree, He very well may, but He will make you capable!! Think of who He is! Is anything too hard for God?

There are a lot of suggestions for Homeschooling, which I rather call home learning or Learning for Life (my favorite) in other sections of this site. Also, I do not suggest or promote wives usurping authority over their husbands on the matter of homeschooling or any other. Most men want the best for their children and most that I know of whose wives homeschooled in the past want their kids in school because their wife was a bundle of nerves when they got home (please see the Help Meet section). There are right ways and wrong ways to go about things, good intentions do not excuse bad behavior. We need to get our hearts right with Lord concerning our relationship with our husband, which is the very foundation of the home, before we can worry about saving our children.

MEDICATION IS NOT THE ANSWER! These medications are killing countless kids. Learn about proper nutrition, find out all your options! Please read the Health & Nutrition page. People perish for lack of knowledge.

_ “It is obvious that many homeschooling families are nothing more than reformed public educational systems. A system faulty at the very core of its philosophy does not need reformation, it needs dismissal. The educational system in America doesn’t need a new teacher, it needs a new birth.” _ —Michael & Debi Pearl

_ “There is more to education than academics. Don’t our children need to learn how to cook, clean, sew, grocery shop, care for others, plan a household budget, pay bills, work on the car, make home repairs, garden, mow the lawn, teach, and so on?” _ —Valerie Bendt

What is the purpose of Education? What is the goal?

We are programmed to think that if our children do not do well in school, make good grades, and seek a college education, that they are destined to a life of struggle and failure. There are many inherint mind sets of the world. If your child cannot learn thus and thus by such and such age, they are slow, they are behind. Expectations, labels, discouragement, low self esteem, rebellion, bad attitude…

Public school was a downward spiral for us and our children did not attend your “typical” public school. They attended a very small, one classroom for every grade K-8, charter school. I had already tried to homeschool TWICE, everyone who knew me knew that I had miserably failed, and came close to going nutty at the same time. Seriously. WHY would I ever even consider homeschooling again?

The Spirit of the Lord is so gentle and so merciful. WHY? I ventured to wonder, does learning have to be so STRESSFUL, why can’t learning actually be FUN??? WHY does he HAVE to know his time tables by memory in 4th grade or be called ‘slow’, which they directly relate to ‘dumb’? So what if he was the only one in the class who couldn’t remember them? He’s not them, he’s HIM! (If you read the section labeled “Learning Disabilities” you will find a more detailed explanation of the issues that brought me back to homeschooling the third time, which was the charm for me.)

Why does it matter when you are a man whether you learned them when you were 9 or 15? Does it really matter? He can have a productive, successful life regardless of what age he learned his time tables or learned to read or write his name legibly. But having a successful, productive life with a low self esteem and lack of confidence will be more difficult. I refused to medicate him into a zombie so he could sit there and so called “concentrate”. I absolutely REFUSED. Medication is no solution, you are making matters worse by not teaching them how to deal with themselves as they are. Our kids need to, HAVE TO realize how desperately they need the Lord in their life. We all have our weaknesses, we all have things we need to focus on, work on, enhance.

I decided to sit down and write for myself a list of what it was exactly that I, as a mother, would wish for my children’s lives. Little did I know that in the next months, I would look at this list many times in an attempt to de-program my mind from the American Public Education mentality. I wrote this list, copied it and pasted it in the cover of my Daily Planner.

GOALS

If I could name all the things I would want my kids to take into adulthood, what would they be? That they read at age 5, memorized their time tables when they were in 3rd grade? That they could write a report by 5th with proper spelling & grammar? That they were able to take the FCAT and pass it when the school board deemed they should? That they could sit still in class and not disrupt, themselves or anyone else? A college degree? I have to say that none of these things would make the list. It would look quite different.

1. SERVE THE LORD (number ONE on the list). Be responsible for their actions, hard workers, have morals, integrity, honesty, faithfulness, capable, learn to improvise and make the best of their situation
2. Have the heart to provide for their family, be good fathers & husband, be a loving mother & wife
3. Be charitable and kind, learn how to forgive, concern themselves with the needs and feelings of others

_ “And thou shall teach them diligently unto they children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them upon thine head, and they shall be as frontlets before thing eyes. And thou shall write them upon the posts of things house, and on thy gates” (Deuteronomy 6). _

YOU ARE TRAINING THEM FOR LIFE, NOT A STANDARDIZED TEST!

Where do I start?

On your knees, plan your curriculum ON YOUR KNEES! Start by asking for the Lord’s guidance. IF you and your husband are on the same page, you have decided to homeschool, or if you are homeschooling and you feel like you’re going nutty, get on your knees and ask the Lord to take all your preconceived ideas about education OUT… just have a little revival. Get your head cleared, give the stress to Jesus, the worry and the anxiety. Get a hold of some strength and some joy, repent, worship, and rejoice…

PUT ON A NEW MIND CONCERNING EDUCATION! They are YOUR kids, what do you want for them? Every nationality and people teach their children the things that they want them to learn. God destroyed entire nations including women and children for this powerful reason! Children believe what they are taught. Even if they change their minds, those old ways are indoctrinated in them. It’s like when you go into a computer program and you change settings, if something happens and you loose your information, the computer reverts back to those origonal settings. So do we. So start on your knees!

When I finally submitted my will to the Lord’s and marched myself down there and withdrew my son emotions were running high. He was struggling, I was struggling and we needed a time of stress release. When I got up off my knees ideas started entering my mind. I had been reading and praying and considering for several weeks before this day, mind you. I strongly recommend the Pearl’s writings, which you will find for sale in the Bookstore section of this web-site. She has a really neat audio full of homeschooling ideas. The best FREE resource there available is the library. Check out books on Unschooling, Unit Studies, and whatever else looks interesting.

Start with a subject that your child finds interesting, which is what I did with my son our very first study, and go to the library and check out every interesting book on your subject. I got a three prong folder for his work and we began reading and learning together. You don’t have to do this for 6 or 7 hours, don’t worry. They’ll get more in a couple hours with your undivided attention than they will in 8 hours at school. My son has an interest in the military so our first study was about the military. We read, we made a timeline of different battles, we learned about Francis Scott Key, we made a sort of family tree of the military branches and levels. My son made his own weapon out of household items, which was a sling shot made out of poster board, staples, and rubber bands among a few things. I picked up workbooks at Sam’s Club and tore out pages that were on our subject, we watched the Discovery Channel and the History Channel, used the DVR to record shows on our topics, he did some photography, some art, some math, some reading, some history, some science and hardly even knew it. We were un-stressed, unpressured.

The Lord dealt with me regarding the other kids, who were still in school at that time, and once they were home for summer I knew they wouldn’t go back. We enjoyed that summer, we had just moved in to a new home and were doing some renovations. My kids hammered concrete, dug trenches for the plumbing, handed tools to the plumber and watched him, watched the masons lay the blocks for a room addition, helped hang new drywall and sand it, helped paint, helped us lay ceramic tile and grout it… took down, repaired and replaced fences, renovated a barn, and more that summer. And they were learning the entire time!

When fall came we kicked off our “school” year with a trip to our local History museum’s Civil War Reenactment. We read about the Civil War. Walked through the old houses, watched them spin cotton, looked at their old tools. I picked several subjects that we would study during the year, we picked one to start with and went to the library.

I had gone to the library on a day they were having a book sale and I picked up this book that was all about reading to your children. I think I paid $1.00 for this book and it was just the Lord that I got it. I really regret passing it along to another mother who was struggling with her son in school, encouraging her to consider her “education” mentality. I have tried to remember the name or the author but haven’t been able to as of yet. It was about Listening Comprehension. The author points out how our children are used to seeing everything, the TV, movies, video games, etc.. and there is a part of their brain that just lies dormant in a matter of speaking. I had also gone to a Dyslexic information seminar and learned a lot of those same things. When I was a kid I loved to read. I would pick out a book and begin reading and get so involved in the plot, with the characters.. I envisioned them, I imagined them in my mind’s eye, how they looked, their surroundings, you know what I mean? That mental picture.. well the kids these days do not have that same mental image in their minds. They never have to imagine that person or scene, they just look at it on the TV or the movie so that when they read and need to use that mental vision, it is difficult. The writer of this book explained the importance of this part of your brain being stimulated for learning. That mental vision part. Like more people learn to read by remembering the shape of the words, not necessarily the sound of the letters. So they see CAT picture a cat in their mind’s eye. They don’t have to sound out each letter very many times before they remember the shape of that word and envision a cat. I hope this makes sense…

The major importance of reading to your children is that it stirs up this part of their brain. By copying a portion of a well written book, they are learning proper grammer, spelling, and punctuation. Daily I read a chapter of a book on our unit study subject to them and copied a page and gave them, circling a paragraph for them to copy and put in the handwriting section of their unit study folder. After copying several months, I dictate some paragraphs to them, then compared their paragraph to the book’s to see if they misspelled or forgot to punctuate anywhere. The Listening Comprehension quickly became on of their favorite parts of the day. At first it was difficult for them to follow along and I had to make them sit there and really listen. You know you can “hear” and not listen! People do it in church all the time! That’s why Jesus said, “he who hath EARS let him HEAR.”

I had them take turns reading. We wrote, we made timelines, we went on nature walks, the kids did some photography, some sketching. I went back to basics in math that they were struggling with such a place value and did it inside out and backwards until they had it. Math facts, counting by 5’s, 2’s, 3’s, 10’s. Counting money, making change. We played games, there are so many fun educational games out there. I got a good daily devotional and we started every day off with devotions, bible time and prayer. Then our Listening Comprehension, this is still how we start the days. You need a good planner, it will be a challenge to try to remember to write down the many things your kids do everyday, I still struggle with that. Every single day the kids learn and do things, EVERY day not just “school” days. It’s hard to get it all down… Just yesterday one of my son’s won the battle against this tree he’s been trying to cut down for months! We now live in south Florida, which was bombarded with hurricanes a few years back. There’s these ugly trees growing in the pasture that got halfway blown down and grew crooked. The base of this tree was probably 10 feet wide and there were a million branches sprouting everywhere. The horses won’t eat the thing and it’s just ugly. So our son Joshua decided he would cut this tree down. It has taken literally hours and a couple chains but yesterday he won!

The first year I used the reading books from Christian Light to let the kids read to me a story out of daily. This year I decided to add their Reading Light Unit to that, which basically asks them about what they read. I did a placement test in the Christian Light Math and started them out on the level they needed to be on. I didn’t stress out about what they were “supposed” to be on. We kept on with our Unit Study subjects to fill in all the gaps.

This year we dropped the Reading Lightunits, I’ve got one son working on the Christian Light Math (the memory learner) but the two that have difficulty memorizing concepts, I have working on something called Developmental Math, by George Saad. It works well for them. We are still unit studying, doing Listening Comprehension activities and also a Critical Thinking exercise daily. I’m having them do the copying to reinforce proper spelling, grammar and punctuation although they are getting a lot better with that because they are all reading quite a bit now. At least a chapter of their books daily. They have begun to love to read and to actually be excited when I come home with BOOKS!! What a miracle! The kids LOVE when we read from the Good and Evil comics. We usually do that on Friday’s. They make the bible stories literally come to life. Those are in the bookstore. This year I have also begun giving them allowance. Something I never did before. I felt that certain chores were expected of them, and I still do. But let’s face it, money is a big incentive! People get up early and stay up late for it everyday! My oldest son went to work and wasn’t mowing the yard anymore so we had the lawn service he went to work for come do it. It got expensive and quick! Then our pool guy just couldn’t manage to keep the pool clear, though I could do it, I just didn’t want to deal with it. I let him go and had our #2 son take over. That’s when I thought, if the kids are doing things I was paying to have done, why not pay them something? I came up with giving them a dollar for every year of their age per week and it’s worked wonderfully. It’s an incentive to them to help out more and it really does help me because when they want something for their horse or themselves… it’s their responsibility to save up and buy it, not mine.

Some of my favorite resources are:

• Christian Book Distributors
• Eduhelper.com, which allows you to print out work sheets on the subject and grade level that you choose
• Christian Light Publications, Inc.
• HomeScienceTools.com, which is not just tools per se but books, games, etc. Really good stuff.
• CarsonDellosaChristian.com has lots of great stuff, which is where I got my daily devotion book.
• God’s World News is a fantastic publication that gives current world events from a Christian perspective on the grade level you choose. It also comes with a quiz, which is great. Give a little prize for the one who gets the most right and they’ll listen more closely!

GREAT BOOKS are available for purchase from our Web Store. Also, I have stuff I have previously used on my unit studies for sale in the Pre-Owned Learning Materials section.

You will need a decent copier. I just copy the kids each their own page and keep the originals. This year instead of working in the inexpensive three prong folders that we did last year, I got a nice binder and put section divider tabs in for each section. They put the work in there for the current study they are working on; when we finish the study we remove the pages and put them in a three prong folder which they decorate. I like them to present their final folder in such a manner as if they had to teach a class using their folder/work as their only resource. Then when it’s time for portfolio reviews I let them each pick their favorite study to present a sample of their work.

We start each new study out with a Brainstorming page. It’s amazing how many neat ideas that they kids themselves come up with, ask them to help you “Brainstorm” your study. What types of things would they like to learn/do on the subject? The Home Science Tools site will give you lots of hands-on activities to add to your study. Pick some type of trip on topic for them to look forward to.

One of my most favorite studies so far has been the States. We checked out the book for each state by regions of the US; we learned where it was, the capital, the population, the size, the abbreviation, the flower, the symbol, special history of it, what it is famous for, etc.. I bought this little gizmo called “Interactive Around the America” that we used a lot for $20. from Collections, Etc.. That one took a while but we finished up the year with it. Did all kind of things, we learned a lot. Including mommy!

For your older children I highly recommend a book called, Senior High: A Home Designed Form+U+La, by Barbara Edtl Shelton. It is a very encouraging book to read. I didn’t follow it completely, but it gave me wonderful ideas and just liberated my mind concerning my highschool aged son’s education.

So basically, PRAY, get out of the ruts, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might! Yes, you will have difficult days, you would very likely have more of them if they were in school! Teach them to work, to clean, to pick up after themselves, the importance of serving the Lord. Not just at devotion time, when you are riding to the store, when you are making dinner, whenever and however the subject comes up, that is what the scripture says for us to do, right?!

To homeschool or not to homeschool, that is the question…

There are many reasons to homeschool and there are many ways to go about it. First of all, you need to have the blessing of your husband. If you buck & rebel against him, you are defeating your own purpose. If the foundation of your home is not properly built, no amount of homeschooling or biblical admonishment or even praying is going to save your kids. Make sure you and your husband are on the same page. Even if he isn’t a Christian, he most likely wants the best for his kids, right? You will need to prove to him that homeschooling is in their best interest. If you are going to be all stressed out and upset when he gets home everyday, that isn’t going to prove anything of the sort to him. You are going to have to figure out how to be resourceful enough to keep the house running smoothly with the kids there all day, you’re going to have to sacrifice that quiet time while they are typically at school; that time that you usually do whatever you want to do. Homeschooling is a sacrifice, yes indeed it is, on the part of the mom who does it, and the dad who has the provision squarely on his shoulders. I would not ever say that everyone should homeschool, I am not here to tell to homeschool your children or how to homeschool them if you do, that is a personal decision that must be made by the parents. It’s between you two and the Lord.

I do believe that the public school system is Anti-Christ, I believe that the whole institutionalized program is against God’s plan and purpose for our children from the very beginning. It is a worldly setting and not the place for children being raised in God fearing and respecting homes. There are no values or morals taught there, right and wrong are all very gray areas, subject to one’s opinions, moods, and feelings.

Schooling will fill the brain with facts that will enable them to pass a test, but it will not teach them to relate to the world in which they live. When a child should be developing confidence, creativity, individuality, a strong body and a work ethic, he is instead made to cease independent decision making and march (or rather sit) in formation to the drum beat of another. He is reared to take a prepared position as a member of a society, marching in disobedience to its Maker. God help us to march to a higher drum beat.

Don’t turn your home into a classroom. Don’t become a “schoolmarm,” wearying bored, captive children who are being deprived of their normal childhood. Let your hoeschooling become more of a natural flow of the days events. Don’t torture your children for extended periods of time. A child who’s imagination is captivated will learn more in five minutes than in eight hours in a boring class room setting.

If you have made a decision to homeschool, you are on the cutting edge of moral and social development. You are the wise and caring parent. If you feel inadequate in your formal training, just remember that what you’ve missed in not going to college was mostly just a bad intellectual disease. Be assured, if you can half read and find your way to the library or a homeschool curriculum fair, you are equipped to provide your children with the materials they need to learn to read and do math. After that, with a little supervision, they will pass up the public school kids so fast they will leave a sonic boom. Start them late and finish them early. While the public system is brainwashing their children you can heart wash yours, and the final product will be their envy. —Michael Pearl

I attempted homeschooling two times using curriculum(s) and failed. It was while the kids were in a charter school for three years that the whole curriculum thing really began to bug me. I love to read and I enjoyed reading about Learning Styles, along with Learning Languages and Love Languages… I loved realizing who my kids were as individuals and how I could relate to, show love to, and teach them. The third time I began homeschooling, I only had taken one son out, the one who would never thrive in a school setting. He had much difficulty learning. basically he couldn’t remember anything. So any skill that was just memorization, he failed at it. His self esteem and his attitude spiraled along with his grades. I began unit studies with him and we had a blast picking a subject and learning everything we could learn about that subject. A few months later, his brothers and sister were home too (they were jealous) and we’ve been homeschooling and unit studying since!

It is my personal opinion that a lot of people give up on homeschooling because they try to stick to a rigid curriculum and it just doesn’t work. It may not work for all their children, or for the parent. Curriculum’s put a lot of pressure on the parent and the student. If we are going to come out from the school system… then HEY, let’s just come out of it completely! Let’s just shed all the stress and worry and replace it with LOTS of reading, listening, writing, copying, dictation, computer skills, common sense math, trips to the library and the grocery store, using coupons and shopping sales. Trimming the horses hooves themselves, putting up fences, canning pickles, cutting down trees, servicing the car… There is a world of things that kids can be learning to do but instead we force them to sit still and do worksheet after boring worksheet.

As parents, we had better be on our knees begging for God’s help and guidance if we want our children saved from an eternal hell. The devil is REAL and he is powerful. Left to their own devices, our children would ALL go the way of the world, the flesh and the devil. Broad is the way and wide is the gate to destruction and MANY there be which go that way. But narrow is the way unto eternal life, and few there be that find it. Parents worry over development, safety, seatbelts & helmets, nutrition, self esteem and desperately sweat education; all the while neglecting their childrens most important possession, their souls. Let us seek the Lord with all our hearts and lean not to our own understanding… In all our ways acknowledge Him and He will direct our path!!

(For further discussion and ideas, please see article Learning 4 Life)

The foundation of the home is the marriage…

I highly recommend every woman read the book, Created to be a Help Meet , by Debi Pearl. The Lord led me to read this book during an extremely difficult time in my life. Through a series of events I was introduced to this book that forever changed the way I would view marriage and God’s plan for women. Wives, you will find refuge and strength in your husband, it is God’s plan. It doesn’t matter if he is Mr. Spirituality or if he is even saved. This book relates to every scenario and helps us to look inside ourselves and discover if, indeed, our motives and our ways are acceptable in the eyes of the Lord.

Debi Pearl has shared some awesome insight on the three types of men. You will be able to identify which type of man you are married to and you will learn what types of things you should and should not do to bless him. This book created for me a whole new way of thinking, and brought such a peace in the realization that I did not have to please everybody; pastors, teachers, relatives, or even friends. Instead, the one man that I needed to please is the man that I vowed I would love, honor, cherish and obey until my death. So many hurdles I had to overcome on the journey from being an overbearing, super spiritual wife who’s married to an undemanding, steady man. I am not here saying I am “there”, that I am Mrs. Perfect Wife now, but God has brought me very far. It has been line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. I have read this book several times, and still pick it up just to check up on my line of thinking. I am not one of these follow behind and speak when asked to speak types of women, my husband would really hate that; but there is a difference between that and the desire to be a true blessing to him.

God created us with our own free will. He could have made us serve Him, but He wanted us to want to serve Him. Likewise, we should have a heart to bless our husband, not because we feel forced to do so, it should be our desire to honor him.

This year we celebrated our 20th anniversary! We are closer now than we have ever been, we love and appreciate each other more and understand each other better. God is so good and so merciful. He longs for us to prosper, He desires to bless us, let’s not tie His hands from doing that.

Father I pray right now that you would quicken, by your Spirit, every woman to receive what you would have for them to receive. I bind every spirit of confusion, fear and rebeliion; and loose a spirit of humility, love and hope. Lord, allow our ears to hear what you are saying to us. In the Name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

”Train up a child in the way that he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

Train up, not discipline up, or threaten up, or even “time-out” up… yet that is what many of us do. Not reason up… have you ever heard or seen or even been a parent who constantly reasons with their child? They try to reason with a temper tantrum throwing two year old… it doesn’t work very well. We constantly teach bad behaviors by rewarding them and we start this practically at birth!

If you are blessed enough to be reading this and your child(ren) are still small, you must invest in the Train Up A Child series of books. Get one at a time if you have to, but for the sake of your children and your own sanity, invest in them!

I came across them after my kids were bigger and making changes was more difficult. It’s not impossible, but it’s certainly more difficult if you train them wrong and then have to un-train them what you’ve already trained them and then re-train them. If you start out when they’re young with proper training, it will save a lot of trouble when they are older.

If you are reading this and your kids are older, it’s not too late. It’s never too late. I learned a lot from this series and there are topics covering older kids and teens as well. Proper training techniques lay a solid foundation of knowledge and help us to better realize where it was that we may have gone wrong so far, and gives us a good understanding of what the real goal is with regard to behavior training.

I highly recommend these books no matter what your child(ren)’s age.

Now you can order NGJ products here at Teachers of Good Things! This is a blog post.