Wake Up

 

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.   The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.   But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.  Romans 13:11-14

What an exciting time to be serving the Lord!

Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed… the day is at hand… I wonder what God has planned for today?

 

In my walk with God there have been a few times when He has reached down and instantly changed me, changed my priorities.  Suddenly things that were important to me lose their importance.  Wants and ‘rights’ I’ve been holding tight to and justifying just melt away.

One of these times was last week.  I was walking through my house and the verse came to me “it is high time to awake out of sleep.”

That was it.  Doesn’t sound like much.  But right there I surrendered to God and He changed me.

How exciting is that?!?!

The most tangible change I’ve seen is suddenly, after months of scraping by, our finances are back in order.  It had gotten to the point that I didn’t even make a budget the last two months because it was taking every bit just to pay bills that were due, forget saving for taxes or insurance or whatnot.  Today I was able to put money into savings, AND go to Sam’s to stock back up, AND the bills are paid!

That’s not what’s exciting though.

The most exciting changes are the renewed hunger I have for the Word of God and the renewed press I feel to spend time in prayer.  The changes I’m seeing in my boys and my husband.  God is molding and shaping us, changing attitudes and touching hearts.  It’s thrilling to watch in them and experience in myself!!

A Great Surprise

 

School is back in session!!  

We began our seventh year of homeschooling last week and for the first time I wasn’t excited to get started.

I have three boys who are happiest when they are outside being boys.  Building, fishing, hunting, climbing, swinging… they’re all over that.  Sitting still, listening, paying attention, not talking at the top of their lungs… not so much.

My middle son threw a fit at the end of his first year of school when he realized that he had to do school again the next year… his exact words were “Can’t you just tell people I’ve graduated?”  He still asks me at least once a week when he can quit.

They would be ecstatic if we used a multiple choice, plug in the right answer and move on, type of curriculum.  Unfortunately for them… I’m their teacher!

This year we are doing A LOT of reading.  We started a new writing program and are learning to read a paragraph or passage or book and isolate the main ideas and write a concise summary. We do plenty of hands on learning, too… but the bulk or our education is coming from reading, reading, reading and then discussing, summarizing and writing.

So I was very hesitant to get started this year.  My expectation going in was that they were going to balk… and balk big time.

I have to say…. they have blown me away!  They are doing an awesome job!!

I love when they exceed my expectations.  Being with them all day, every day it can be really easy to just focus in on the areas that need improvement.  They’re in my face constantly so every little thing becomes magnified… it’s good to step back and realize that they are really great kids! 

The Thing About Schooling at Home….

 

Is that you’re AT HOME!

What’s the big deal about that??

I’ll tell you…

Today was our first day of school.  I had vague plans for how it would go.  Unfortunately the rest of the world wasn’t clued in on my plans.

First Travis asked to go check his live traps.  No biggie… until he came in shouting that he’d caught something.  So then everyone had to go rushing outside to check it out.

Okay… that’s okay… all part of the joy of homeschooling… right?

Then they come in and I hear them setting up to play Aggravation with Brian.

I remind myself that this is making memories… and tell them it better be the fastest game ever!

We finally get down to business… and my phone rings.

I ignore it.

So they come to the house… Brian’s parents wanting Jake to come play with his cousin.

Right about then is when I decide schedules just make me crazy…

 

Good news is we did get everything finished that I had planned.

And, thanks to the menu I worked up Saturday night and my handy-dandy Crock Pot, we even had a hot, home-cooked meal ready when we got through!!

Seeing as God Sees

 

 “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

My father-in-law gave Travis a jar of old lead nail heads the other day.  All Travis could talk about was melting them down to make fishing weights. 

If I was any kind of blogger at all I would have thought to take pictures of the process… but I didn’t.  I could go take after pictures now… but that would involve getting up off my rear and I don’t want to do that.  So you’ll just have to use your imagination!

They set everything up outside and by the time I made it out to watch they already had a few made.  Brian had a tin can heating on the grill burner to melt the lead in while they got the mold ready.  But when I looked in the can the nail heads were just sitting there, not changed at all.  It took them a few minutes to get the mold fixed just right and I kept checking on the lead waiting on it to melt, but it still looked the same… 4 or 5 dirty, old nail heads in the bottom of the can.

Finally they had it all ready.  Then Brian took a stick and poked at the nail heads… and suddenly instead of dirty, ugly nail heads there was bright, shiny melted lead in the bottom of the can.

I was thinking about that later and got to thinking about people.  Often we get so frustrated with people, we look at them and think they’re never going to change.  Sometimes months, or even years, can go by and they still seem like the same old person.  We might get fed up and want to give up on them.  Or, we might be tempted to do God’s job for Him and tell them all the ways they should be changing.

But, we can only look on the outside… we can’t see the work God is doing on the inside.  Sometimes it takes a while for those inward changes to be manifested outwardly.  If we’ll just be patient, when the time is right, God will give that one last nudge and that one we thought would never change… WILL.

I’m Back!!!

 

Wow…. It’s been so long since I’ve blogged that I’d forgotten what program I use!

What a summer… 2 boys played baseball. That’s always fun!

We opened the produce stand for the month of June and made enough to more than pay for all the expenses of the garden, so that was a success!

I canned… purple hull peas, cream peas, green beans, pinto beans, tomatoes, rotel tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, V-8 juice, vegetable soup, tomato sauce, dill pickles, corn, salsa, grape jelly, plum jelly, dill relish, barbeque sauce, and… I think that’s all!

I froze… corn on the cob, squash, green beans, okra, and peppers.

Then I had to clean house all last week to make up for only spot cleaning for a month and a half.  I wish it was still clean this week!

There are a few things I’m pondering that I may blog about soon… on the other hand I started planning for school this week so that may be all I think about for a while… either way hopefully it won’t be another month (or two!) before I blog!

What’s up?

 

Seeking God’s face….Baseball games…. Heart shaping…. A very weedy garden… Baseball practice…. Stepping way out of my comfort zone to boldly follow God’s will… Rethinking education style…. Character training….

That’s what I’ve been up to… how ‘bout you?

Thoughts…

 

Spring in East Texas… it’s my favorite time of year!

Right now I’m sitting in my swing, listening to the birds sing and watching the boys fish.  They’ve been out there for hours, we had to make a special Wal-Mart run this morning for stink bait and worms!

My garden is planted… it took four days but I finally finished up today.  Now I’m just praying that another flood doesn’t come along and wash it away again.  We lost about half our potatoes the last time in rained but thankfully we had planted a lot so we still have plenty.

Last night’s sermon was on having a teachable spirit and letting Jesus be our teacher.  There are so many things the Spirit wants to teach us, so many things He would do through us, so many things He would do for us… if we would just be willing.  Not dig in our heels because we’re afraid of what He might ask from us.  Lord help me to be willing.

Never Give Up

 

Wow… long time no blog, huh?!!  I know it’s only March but we’re gearing up for summer already and all the busyness that goes along with it!

 

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Galatians 6:9

I’ve been meditating on that verse a lot the last few weeks.  Mostly, I’ve been thinking about it in relation to my boys… how I pour in patience, mercy, gentleness and often those are NOT the things I get back.  Not always, but it’s been those kinds of weeks!

But today, I was thinking about my own walk and how I fight the same battles over and over again without seeming to make any progress.  And how wily the enemy is to come in when we’re down and whisper there’s no point in getting up when we’re just going to fall again.  This verse came back to me again…  Don’t give up on doing what’s right, don’t become discouraged,  because when the time comes we will be rewarded if we don’t give up!

How great is our God!

Check It Out

I wrote a guest post over at The Kindle Crew on homeschooling. Go check it out and be sure to read the rest of her blog. Jennifer is a great friend and such an encouragement to me!

She's going to be featuring several other homeschooling moms, so if you've ever wondered why in the world anyone would ever want to homeschool just stick around and you'll see!!

Spring…

…. has not quite sprung…

But as soon as it does I’ll be ready!!

Onions, onions, and more onions…

In case you ever wondered… this is what five bunches of onions, planted in 2 rows four inches apart, looks like. That’s a lot of onions!

Radishes just beginning to sprout.

And my brand new flower bed… minus any flowers…

Now to start hitting up my mom and granny for flowers!! It’s good to have gardeners in the family!

What If…

 

The boys got a little crazy tonight so in an effort refocus them and save my sanity I sent one to take a bath and told the other two to clean the living room.  Win-win… they’re not going coo-coo for cocoa puffs driving me insane and I get a cleanish living room!

I told Cade to vacuum the rug.  We have an old Rainbow vacuum cleaner which does an awesome job but is a bit of a pain to set up. He was a trooper though… drug it all out, got it assembled, then I showed him how to fill up the water reservoir. 

He was a little hesitant to carry it full of water… “But what if I drop it and spill water everywhere?”

I handed it to him and replied that if that happened he would get a towel and clean it up!

When he left the kitchen I got to thinking about that “What if?”

How often am I hesitant to try new things because of the what ifs?

How often do I second guess God’s will in my life because of what if?

What if I’m not doing the right thing to reach my kids?  What if no one likes my ideas?  What if this is not really God prompting me?  What if I step in it and make a fool of my self?  What if I reach out and get rebuffed? 

What if? What if? What if?  It’s enough to drive me crazy if I ever start down that path.

But, when I stop and really think about it… what if? Ok, what if the worst happens? What if what I’m worried about comes to pass? What then?

Well, then I’ll get a towel and clean it up!

Maybe it’s not really that simple but that’s the basic idea.

If I fall flat on my face then I’ll get up, dust off and try again.  And hopefully I’ll have gained a little wisdom, a little discernment, in the process.

But… what if “you have come to the kingdom for a time like this?”   That’s from Esther.

What if this is exactly where God wants me to be? What if this is exactly what He wants me to do? What if He has put me here just so I can reach out to that one?  What if He has given me these children because He knows what He’s doing?

Kinda puts a different spin on the “What ifs?” doesn’t it!

Our Weekend

 

Travis went hunting with my dad this weekend, then my mother-in-law felt sorry for the other boys so she invited them over…. I had the quietest weekend ever!!  It was lonely.  And I realized I can no longer get anything done unless I’m being interrupted constantly!

Travis had a great time.  He shot a hog the first night so that was just the coolest thing ever!

Brian and I went out for lunch Saturday, just the two of us.  I was trying to remember when was the last time we went out alone… the last time I can think of was several years ago so I guess we were due for a date. 

I had planned for us to have school today but decided yesterday that our time would be better spent getting everyone back in the routine of being home and focusing on nipping unacceptable behaviors in the bud.  Even a few hours with the grandparents can give the boys the idea that they no longer have to mind me or use good manners.  Not the grandparents fault… the boys just have to test the limits occasionally!

This weekend made me appreciate all over again just how blessed I am to have this opportunity to educate my boys at home.  This time will fly by so fast and they will be gone doing their own thing.  I’m thankful for the time I have now to ground them in the truth, for all the little moments we have each day that we would miss if they were gone for most of the day.  I’m thankful that I can take the time out to nip bad behaviors before they are reinforced by others and become a habit.  They are amazing people and everyday they take my breath away… what a blessing to get to spend my days with them!

 

Trying Something New

 

Want to hear something funny??

I’ve started eating mostly vegetarian!

I can hear you now “But Lisa, you don’t like vegetables!!”

I know…. I’m SOOO hungry!

Just kidding, truthfully I can tolerate most vegetables and even like a few… just not raw.

I’d been hearing a lot about the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and finally watched it a few weeks ago.  I was inspired!

So I started juicing for breakfast and one other time during the day, and then eating mostly vegetables the rest of the day. 

I feel so much better… I didn’t realize I had felt bad until I started feeling good but wow… what a change!

I still eat a little cheese when I want and tuna a couple of times a week.  If I’m out somewhere and want something non-vegetable… I eat it.  I’m not just determined to only eat vegetarian/vegan.

But I’ve noticed that I don’t crave the other stuff as much.  And when I do eat it I feel so icky afterward that it kinda takes the fun away!

The coolest difference I’ve noticed is I’m not as stiff as I was.  I can sit with my legs tucked under me and then get up and walk without hobbling like an old person!

That’s pretty nice!!

Follow-Up

 

Whew!! Our first week back went GREAT!

We hit a rough patch the first day when all three boys wanted to do math at the same time… three boys, three levels, new lessons and new concepts for everyone, all needing help at the same time does not equal a cool, calm and collected mama.  But we persevered and I laid down the law that we would stagger math the rest of the week.

All three vehicles decided to break down at the same time so we didn’t make it to the library… the big blue truck is running now but I’m not sure I’m up to driving it that far.  Thanks to our Goodwill run when we were in Austin I have several books here that will supplement our history studies for the time being so we’ll just play that by ear.

Now to gear up and do it all over again!!

Back to School

 

Tomorrow we start back to school… these past three weeks have FLOWN!

Tonight I’m praying for a peaceful spirit… that I will show grace and mercy to the boys tomorrow.  That I won’t be so rigid in my expectations and schedules that I can’t bend with the kids needs. That I won’t be so focused on the car troubles we’re having and the library visit we still haven’t made and whatever else pops up during the day that I lose sight of this great opportunity I’ve been given to nurture and disciple my children.