Boys in Motion

I'm excited to participate in Boys in Motion with Home with the Boys.  What a cute and encouraging idea to keep our eyes set upon Christ and joyful in raising boys!



This is Cole, my oldest son (age 5) of five children (4 of which are boys).  He's been practicing dribbling a basketball and doing an excellent job.  He and we are very proud!

Mother of the Home

Dear mother in the home, beloved of the Lord, Your power as a mother, it can’t be ignored, You are the heart and the Queen of your home, Making it a haven so your children won't roam. As you nurture and teach your children each day, Discipline, train and watch over their play, May your heart fill with joy and overflow with love That God gave you these 'gifts' from heaven above. Each precious child is a ‘blessing’ from the Lord, You will no longer have time to ever be bored! You have the greatest career in all of the land As you teach your children to heed God's command. Lift up your head; be proud of your calling, It’s work for eternity - totally enthralling! Oh yes, I know you often feel tired and worn, But claim God's promises, His truth He has sworn. "The joy of the Lord is your strength," God has stated Whatever He’s promised cannot be negated! As you shine with His joy, you'll be a beacon to all That embracing God’s children is His will and call. Don't be intimidated by those who ignore God's way, Who limit their children and leave them each day, As you receive God's 'rewards' and at home with them stay You’ll be a light to save others from going astray. Your sweet, gentle spirit is precious in God's sight. As you serve in your home with all of your might You are revealing the spirit of Jesus the King Who showed by example to serve in everything. May God bless you and strengthen you each new morn, May you know His faithfulness with every dawn, May God's presence be with you in a mighty measure As you train up your 'arrows' for God's purpose and pleasure.

~Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

Writing a Prayer

I've been inspired and challenged by Brooke to pray a prayer each day for my children and my husband.   I've always had a verse chosen that represented my prayer for them as they grow. But, I've never considered writing a prayer I would pray for them, each day, that would include a biblical direction, washing them over in the word, and sending them along life's path covered by God's grace.  To pray a prayer for their hearts would be my greatest pleasure.  For this year I've chosen to borrow Brooke's prayers and cover my home with God's perfect word.

For my Children:

“Lord, You alone change hearts of stone, to hearts of flesh.  Place Your  Spirit within my children and cause them to walk in Your statutes and  to be careful to obey Your rules.  For You know the plans You have for  them; plans to prosper them and not to harm them, to give them a future  and a hope.  Let them fear You Lord, and thus have a foundation for  wisdom and a heart for instruction. Let them receive wisdom and incline  their hearts to understanding.  Help them not to lean on their own  limited understanding, but in all their ways to acknowledge You so that  their paths will be straight.  Protect them from walking in the counsel  of the wicked and standing in the way of sinners, but lead them to  delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night. May  they abide in the shadow of the Almighty and not fear the terror by  night.  May they walk by the Spirit and not gratify the desires of the  flesh.  Instead, may they be filled with love, joy, peace, patience,  kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  May  their minds and thoughts be fixed on whatever is true, honorable, just,  pure, lovely, commendable, anything worthy of praise.  May they not be  conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewal of their minds.   May they discern the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.  May  their love be genuine.  May they abhor what is evil; hold fast to what  is good.  May they love one another with brotherly affection, outdoing  one another in honor.  May they do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but  in humility count others more significant than themselves.  May they lie  down and sleep in peace; for You alone, O Lord, make them to dwell in  safety.  Bless them Lord, and keep them, and make Your face shine upon  them…and be gracious to them.”

(Scripture references: Ezekiel 36:26-27, Jeremiah 29:11, Proverbs 2,   Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 1:3, Psalm 91, Galatians 5:16&22, Philippians   4:8, Romans 12:2, Romans 12:9-10, Psalm 4:8, Numbers 6:24).

For my Husband: 

“Lord, create in my husband a clean heart and renew a right  spirit within him. Help him to abide in You and You in him.  Turn his  heart toward his children and the hearts of his children to him.  Thank  you for Him Lord. For allowing me to rest in Your provision of him as my  husband.  May he desire to be like You; merciful and gracious, slow to  anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.  As he believes  in You, may he be established.  Continue to empower him to do justice,  to love kindness and to walk humbly with his God.  I give thanks for him  lord, and pray that You would give him a spirit of wisdom and of  revelation, that he may always know what is the hope to which he has  been called, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the  saints and what is the immeasurable greatness of Your power toward your  believers.  Let him deny himself and take up his cross daily to follow  You.  May Christ dwell richly in his heart through faith.  May he, being  rooted and grounded in love, have strength with all the saints to  comprehend what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to  know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.  May Your grace be  sufficient for him and Your power made perfect in his weakness.  May he  walk not in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the way of sinners,  but rather delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and  night.  Answer him when he calls, O God, be gracious and hear his  prayers.  Let him take refuge in You and give thanks to You with his  whole heart.  May he recount all of Your wonderful deeds, be glad and  exult in You…sing praise to Your Name.  May he fear You Lord, and thus  find wisdom.  Let him walk in the way of insight.  May he love the Lord  his God with all of his heart and all his soul and all his might.  May  You bless him and keep him and make Your face shine upon him, and be  gracious to him, O Lord my God.”

(Scripture references: Psalm 51:10, John 15:4, Malachi 4:5-6, Psalm  86:15, 2 Chronicles 20:20, Micah 6:8, Ephesians 1:17-19, Luke 9:23,  Ephesians 3:17, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 1:1, Psalm 4:1, Psalm 7:1,  Psalm 9:1-2, Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 9:6, Deuteronomy 6:5, Numbers 6:24)


Warrior Pray-ers

Prayers for a joyful heart


Joy is different than happiness.

"We don't care what *Seth* does when he grows up, " she said, "we just  want him to be happy."  And I cringed as she said it, this Christian  woman I've known all my life.  Because deep down inside I believe that  there's more than happiness in life to aspire to.  Sure, I wish  happiness for my sons.  But if I had to choose between them being happy  for a season & living in sin, or being miserable for a season &  loving Jesus with all their hearts...well, I'd choose the latter.


Happiness is not necessarily holiness. 

Men who cheat on their wives, neglect their children and look at porn  each night before bed can be perfectly happy with their lifestyle.  No,  happiness is fleeting.  But joy comes from a right relationship with  Christ.  This week let's pray for the joy of the Lord to root itself  deeply into our precious sons' hearts.  And while we're at it, let's ask  the Lord to make us relish the joy of our salvation as well.

Monday:  May the joy of the Lord be our sons' strength (Nehemiah 8:10)

Tuesday:  May our sons be filled with love, joy, peace,  patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control  (Galatians 5:22)

Wednesday:  May our sons go out in joy and be led forth in peace (Isaiah 55:12)

Thursday:  May the God of hope fill our sons with all joy and  peace as they trust in him, so that they may overflow with hope by                       the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13) 

Friday:   May our sons go to the altar of God, to God, their joy and their delight (Psalm 43:4)

Saturday: May our sons count it all joy when they meet trials  of various kinds, as the testing of their faith produces steadfastness.  May they let steadfastness have its full effect, that they may be  perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:1-4)

Sunday:  May our sons know that while weeping may tarry for the night, joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:5)



Warrior Prayers

Monday's Projects from At the Well

Be an Encourager


to share your words with someone as an encouragement. Send a card to someone. Write a letter. Send a quick e-mail sharing your gratitude. Call someone just to say, “Hi.”
This week, be intentional each day and choose to lift up a woman in your life (daughter, sister, mother, friend, neighbor, etc…).

Lord help me to know whom you would like for me to encourage and what to say. That my words would be your words and your voice would be heard through my flesh. Amen.

Monday's Projects from At the Well

Prayers for our Children:

“Prayer is the greatest weapon we hold in our hands as we mother our children. It is the greatest secret for successful mothering.” Nancy Campbell
A whisper, a cry, labored, simple. Each prayer is heard by the Father. This week let us focus on the blessings we’ve been entrusted to raise for Him. Single? Childless? Lift up your voice for siblings, nieces, nephews, those you encounter at work, church, those that grace your daily life… those yet to come.

Monday: That they will know Christ early in life (Psalm 63:1; 2 Timothy 3:15)
Tuesday: That they will respect those in authority over them (Romans 13:1)
Wednesday: That they will desire the right kind of friends (Proverbs 1:10; 13:20)
Thursday:  That they will be protected from the evil one in each area of their lives – spiritual, emotional, and physical (John 17:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:23)
Friday: That they, as well as those they marry, will be kept pure until marriage (1 Corinthians 6:14-17)
Saturday: That they will learn to totally submit to God and resist Satan (James 4:7)
Sunday: That they will be single-hearted, willing to be sold out to Jesus Christ (Romans 12:1-2)

Walk with Him Wednesday

The Practice of Marriage...hmmmm I murmur to myself and take a deep breath, as I ponder whether I can truly contribute to this discussion as my marriage is still truly in the birthing stage.  It is cloaked in the appearance of being matured and steadfast as my husband and I have created five angels and brought God's gifts into the world in just six short, often long in feeling, but sweet in reflection, years since our "I do's".  I DO...what are those words we spoke.

Words we pledge to one another in the stillness of the moment when all the world stands still so that we might become ONE.  Breathed with youth, innocence, good willed intention of grace, love, adoration, promise, and commitment.  In that moment all is possible, all has come full circle, love has spawned a new beginning and the world is as foot.

I DO...
I DO...
I DO...

Do I love unconditionally when the words we once spoke with love and honor become harsh and jagged with edges that cut deep in the night?
Do I serve fully when the rewards seem shallow and few?
Do I press forward with compassion towards the man who chose me, or for whom I was chosen by God to make his life whole, two to become one?
Do I respect Him because God calls me to, commands me to, promising reward for looking past the man and setting my eyes upon the Lord?

The seasons come in quickly once the vows are spoken and the lives that were once two are now one and we make our bed together and rise under the same sun.  For us the stretching of skin, kicking of tiny feet and joyful pangs of childbirth arrived ten short months after breathing our "I do's". Naked, pink and warm with life he brought a new season of life to our fresh, barely birthed marriage. The two were both infants at once.

The season of childbearing, angel making, quiver-filling has yet to be subsided.  This season sits long, breathes deep, blesses much and will pass too quickly I fear.  Within this season are yet smaller, more subtle seasons as my husband and I learn, grow, repent, renew, and repeat our love for one another beneath the cloak of making and birthing babies.  We are birthing babies and birthing marriage at the same time.  This comes with many lessons and many blessings.

We till the ground of marriage, churning it, kneading it, watering it into something ever growing and maturing.  We take care to keep the light and the dark upon it for proper amounts of time.  We give the dark it's pleasant intimacy and the day its laughter and loudness as little boys and 1 sweet girl fill our home with joy.  Again we till the ground, churn it, knead it, water it expecting growth towards the direction of the ultimate light.  At times we find the weeds.  Harsh yet necessary cleansing must happen and we start fresh with a new bed.  We are not gardeners and gardening comes with difficulty.  To be a farmer of hearts and minds and souls without being a farmer of the land presents challenges.  But, we press on thinking of our I DO's and our love and our promise.

Ann states, "The Farmer knows seasons.  He knows you cannot change them or race them and it’s best to just look to the sky and let come what comes and be the man patient, lips murmuring prayers, the thick hands working silent love. He does this. Tilling soul soils for years."
 
And so I turn down beds, fold fresh laundered shirts and pair socks, fail at cooking "good" meals but try my hardest, think of him while he toils for our satisfaction, pat baby bottoms over and over to bring about sleep, cut crust off sandwiches, breath "YHWH" in earnest, run warm bath water, clothe and lay down precious babes to dreams, and slip quietly into my room to till and tend to the man I love and do what makes us ONE to honor the God-Spirit-Man three in ONE.

Through the seasons I pray we don't lose sight of the night and we claim each day; tilling, turning, kneading and sometimes starting anew, clearing the weeds...each season bringing its own blessings and lessons...embracing each with open arms and hearts filled with His LOVE.

I DO promise to LOVE through the seasons. LOVE as both a choice and a feeling. I do this to honor my savior because in the end I know this is the only way to truly say I DO at all.  It covers every season, every change, all the growth, the birthing of babes, the night and the day, the love, laughter and the tears, the weeds.  I see now that my I DO really was a promise to God not to my husband.  We become ONE that we might show our true love to HIM--THE ONE.  YHWH.





Colossians in a Year

Sneaking into my life is Satan's distraction.  I've made a commitment, set my feet to walk a path, to place the Word into my heart.  Following the footsteps of victorious women, I place the inspired words upon my desk. They've been locked into a journal, cut and pasted with care, allowing me to turn the pages each week and meditate upon God's word.  But, silently in the same way he lingers about our homes, our hearts, our children, the evil one waits for me to become consumed with the days events. He laughs mockingly to himself at my inability to focus, meditate, memorize.

I read. I read, I read, I repeat and I still cannot implant this word into my mind to stay. That it would make a home there, reside there and grow, lengthening the depth of my love, understanding and passion for my Lord.  He, the dark one, waits and takes pleasure while I hurry to feed them lunch, although with love, yet distracted from my true hearts desire.  I move about the house to pick up a doll, a sword, a soiled pair of socks as they ran in the wet grass earlier today and I watched with joy at their innocence.  Yet, distraction lingers.

Somehow, in my new found commitment to stamp the Lords words into my mind and allow them to sink into my heart, melting me and replacing me with Him, I MUST find a quiet time.  A truly quiet, stilled moment to devote myself to Him and to squash the dark one's pleasure.  That the he, the one who hates, would no longer find pleasure here but be forced to abandon this place.

I struggle with verse 2 and 3, so early on in this journey, finding it to be difficult to memorize what I've always thought were minor details in the WORD.  Yet, here I am attempting to place it into my soul. It cannot be minor, it mus be MAJOR.  I hate to fall behind.  I. hate. it.  I will catch up, I will press on, I will be determined to hold on to my commitment with all my MIGHT and pray for the Lords strength to fight back the distraction and make time, in the quiet, to sink in.

I ponder the idea that dark does not overtake light, light always displaces the dark.  Even in the first day of creation God said, "let there be light" upon the Earth and the darkness was instantly lifted from the face of the deep.  God spoke and set into motion "the greater light" and the "lesser light" and someone once told me these represent God as the Greater Light and the us as the Lesser Light.  We are filled with His light.  In this light, His light, shining through us, we dispell the Dark One.  We cast him away just as light dispells the darkness.  I pray or the LIGHT to OVERCOME the dark in both my home and my heart.  That I might defeat the distractions and take hold of the meditation.Add more windows

Keeping our Heads Up

(posted from my personal blog)

I'm sitting here listening to Justin read to the children, get them ice cream, and prepare them for bed.  He's such an amazing dad.  This is all happening on the eve to another trip to Las Vegas, 1 of many many more until this project is over.  To think the kids will almost be one year older when this quiets down is crazy to me.  There are certainly times, I will not lie, that Justin being out of town makes me feel heavy and sometimes, when I really let my guard down, I cry.  It is such a strange thing. 

I would never want to be unappreciative that my husband has a job, a job he loves.  I would never want to be seen as someone who doesn't realize what a blessing that is.  I do, I do know it is a blessing, especially in these times, that my husband is employed with not much risk of being let go.  I am thankful he works hard, dedicates time towards doing his best so that we might benefit.  He is the only one providing for our family and that places a lot of pressure on his shoulders.  Each day or week or month however one would like to look at it, he is having to decide when to leave, how long to stay, when to return without putting his job or his family on the line. 

At the same time I know all the things I stated above it is hard to have him gone.  It is hard on me and the kids. I can tell after days of him being away from home they are on edge, a little whiny, sick of me I'm sure, and ready to rough and tumble with daddy.  It is such a statement to me as to why children (one of the many reasons why, certainly not the only) kids need both parents. We offer different elements to their lives.  We each bring, when together, a balanced amount of love, play, laughter, discipline and more.  My mother in law, after spending the last two weeks at our house again, mentioned how much the kids seem to settle when he gets home and we are back together again.

I won't go into the things that are challenging about having him work out of town these past months, and several times before this time, I'm sure one could attempt to imagine.   With five little ones running around (I'm well aware we chose to continue having them even with the chance he might work out of town. We don't find children to be a joy only when the circumstances are just right, but always and believe God is in control) it can become difficult to make dinner, get the laundry done, folded and put away, and get to the grocery store!  If you visit you might become familiar with the basket of laundry that makes its home in my bedroom. We are used to it and when it isn't there, in the rare case I've gotten it all done, I feel naked! :)  I'm teasing but it's pretty much always there.  Not to mention that I like to create things and blog to clear my head and sometimes chose to take a nap so I'm not Mean Mommy on day two of daddy being gone. I like to reserve that disposition for Day 3 so they really want him home. It makes him feel better when he arrives that they are so excited to see him!


Last week on my devotional blog I posted a Tuesday Program from Titus 2 At the Well to pray for my husband.  I so NEED to do this more.  I plan to do this again this week because I didn't quite do it as much as I'd like.  In fact I realized this needs to be one of my 3 NEW HABITS this year.


Monday: His Work
Tuesday: His Integrity
Wednesday: His Mind
Thursday: His Purpose
Friday: His Health
Saturday: His Protection
Sunday: His Faith


There is no question as to how much he means to us, to me. I know how much he gives to God, to work and to us.  I know how challenging this same situation is for him, sometimes more so. I also recognize I do not always treat him with the respect he deserves.  I'm so blessed he dedicates his life to his purpose.  Sometimes, well often, I wish it didn't take him away. We just MISS him. I feel like I'm always trying to squeeze things in while he's home because before we know it, he's gone again.  I trust the Lord. Pray He gives me strength when I need it, rest when I need it, patience when I need it, and a constancy of LOVE for Justin.  


P.S. I can only assume it is because he is a hard worker and his company appreciates him so much that Dina bought us a Kitchenaid Mixer to make my life baking and creating things for the kids, more natural foods, easier.  I cried. I was so touched.  Justin's sacrifices have meant our blessings.  For that I'm forever grateful.


This week I pray for my husband and my children!  Looking upward to keep going forward!




Keeping Lists

God keeps lists.

You have recorded my troubles.
You have kept a list of my tears.
Aren’t they in your records?
Today is recorded in the heavens and its pains are written with the wet of tears of God who “hurts with the hurt of my people.” (Jeremiah 8:21)

God does not slumber for He cannot cease to bear testimony to our hurt.

God keeps a list.
 
It’s the wildest Love that drives the Father to record His child’s every lament.
We never ache without God attending, and He can’t stand to see a tear fall to the floor. God cups our grief and puts our tears in His bottle” (Ps. 56:8).


If God makes a list of my laments, I will make a list of God’s love.
 
If God has a list of my pain, I will make a list of my praise. 

If God writes a list of my tears, I will write a list of my thanks.

It’s Love that makes God and I list keepers.

Putting On and Putting Off


Update:
I've chosen my 3 New Habits this year and I'm blessed to walk the journey knowing God brought to me at the right time those habits He planned for me. 
1. Colossians in a Year (here)
2. Praying for my husband (prayer found here)
3. Praying for my children (prayer found here)
________________________________________
I had written earlier that I would be prayerfully considering what 3 new habits I would put on this year, a New, Fresh, year (all the while putting off some habits so the new might fill the spaces of the old).  I've been meditating and praying in my heart about where God would want me to be. It is not an easy task as I feel one can only put on so many things before being weighted down.  I want the habits of our life to be simple.

As I continue to reflect upon what Ann said about nuns who where habits and habits being the "clothes" that cover us in life.  We wear them just as skin.  I ponder her statements concerning Jesus' habit, his robe, seamless and in one piece.



It was Jewish tradition, what all Jewish mothers give to their sons when they left home: a robe without seams.  A one-piece. No fragmenting. No tearing. No seams.
It’s what Jesus wore to the cross:
Now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. They said therefore to one another, ‘Let us not tear it…’ (Jn 19:23).
The habit of Christ was the holiness of Christ, a life with no seams between secular and sacred. The habit Christ wore was a one-piece life —- all is hallowed and for God.
What will I wear this year and for years to come as my habit?   Can I possibly do this with no seams  What do I and we need to put OFF in order to put ON these new habits?  What does a One-Piece life look like? between secular and sacred? Can I instill this in my children?

As I meditate upon what God is calling me to put on and take off I wonder, deeply, how?
How will I go about building this new habit?
Will 100 Days be enough to put a new one on, like clothes, make it a part of me?
How will daily life allow for these new habits?  (through the piles of love built by laundry, the laughter over a meal, the coos of a tiny boy growing on mommy's milk?)

I read this,  
Daughter, you don’t have to be enough or have a lot. Only offer all you are, all you have, to Me. I will turn that into abundance beyond all you can imagine. All things are possible with Me.”  (remembering what Jesus did with the Fish and Loaves found here)

Not only do I what to Put On and Put Off but to do so with joy. Dallas Willard says, "We do well to note, however, that love is the foundation of the spiritual life and joy is a key component in the Christ life. Joy is not pleasure, a mere sensation, but a pervasive and constant sense of well-being. Hope in the goodness of God is joy's indispensable support."

I want this.  Joy to be my constant sense of well-being.



"Jesus taught us to abide in God's love “that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15: 10-11, NASB). Our joy is full when there is no room for more. Abiding in God's love provides the unshakable source of joy, which is in turn the source of peace. All is based in the reality of God's grace and goodness.

Faith, hope, love, joy, and peace—the “magnificent five”—are inseparable from one another and reciprocally support each other." Willard
 
My prayer is that while I continue to meditate and ask YHWH to make clear to me those habits I need to Put on I will consider His Power, Love, and Strength, not my own, placing the habits into His hands. Those hands that broke the bread and multiplied the fish, carried the cross in his One-Piece robe, and laid his hands upon the cross to be pierced for me.

Y = yod — Hand
H = heh — window of breath, Behold
W = vav — Nail
H = heh — window of breath, Behold




Monday's Projects from At the Well

I'm excited about this project theme at At the Well.

This is project number 2, with the first being about Daily Bible Reading.  It is so fitting as my New Years "resolution" is the commitment to form 3 new habits one of which is memorizing scripture.  I'm challenged to spend this week praying for Justin.  Perfect is the timing of God considering my husband is out of town in Las Vegas for work from now (Monday) until Thursday, the longest time away for this project so far.  With our family swelling in size with Westin's arrival and the challenges that arise from often being here along, I'm grateful his parents are here to help.  This will open time for me to spend time praying for him, our daddy, our provider, our strength, protector and partner.  It has also challenged me, in this week with long hours away, to spend time thanking God for him and his commitment to our family as the long days and the nights alone could bring me towards resentment rather than thanks.


Monday: His Work
Tuesday: His Integrity
Wednesday: His Mind
Thursday: His Purpose
Friday: His Health
Saturday: His Protection
Sunday: His Faith


Creation and its blessings

I sit quietly in a class about Creation. The Lords greatest blessing. The birth of the Earth.  I ponder the magnitude, beauty and perfection of this place as the Lord spun and spoke it into existence with but a breath.  I sit and nurse my 7 week old newborn boy while I fill my heart with thoughts of God's GREAT love for us and the perfection that is His Holy Word.  It spills onto the pages of my Bible, the beauty that is our world, His plan, will, and ultimately Glory.  I can't put words to the feelings stirred as I imagine Day 6, Adam and Eve.  He made them. Him from dust and of his breath and her from Him.  I think of God laboring to create Adam. Not laboring in His inability to do so but rather His passion to do so.

I contemplate the way we labor to bring life into the world now, as God's creation. The squeezing, the tightening, the breathing, and the drawing near of its completion.  I breathe one last breath and as they descend I give them a name and call them "GOOD". Instantly the moaning stops and the JOY begins.

God with his hands, drawing up the dust, forming it, breathing life into it, calling it by name, and the drawing near of its completion.  GOOD He says.  The beginning of man. The perfection of the creation; all that is contained within it.
 
Ann too quotes this passage today:

“The letters of the name of God in Hebrew… are infrequently pronounced Yahweh. But in truth they are inutterable….
This word {YHWY} is the sound of breathing.
The holiest name in the world, the Name of Creator, is the sound of your own breathing. That these letters are unpronounceable is no accident. Just as it is no accident that they are also the root letters of the Hebrew verb ‘to be’… God’s name is name of Being itself.
~Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
With His breath, just as His name utters, we were called into being.  Given an eternal purpose and brought back into reconciliation with Him through His Son, breathed into the world that night as an infant as He is often called "the Breath of Heaven".  I think if Mary and quote Ann as she calls women "pray-ers and deep breath-ers and life-knitters, the mothers and laborers and lovers."  Mary fulfilling the prophecy and breathing into existence the Son of God.  What a wonder. 

I'm moved to think about Creation and to do so as a daughter of God. A women who also labors, prays, and knits life into being for Him.  Raising an Army of boys, arrows of truth, and 1 precious Woman Warrior and sister in the life knitting business.  The creation that began it all and the creation that has kept it spinning, growing, breathing.  It is Gods creation that stirs passion.

Blessings

191.  Breathing
192. Cool Crisp air to encourage and spring life
193. Each new day as created by God "YOM"
194. A deeper understanding of Creation and a Young Earth
195. The inspiration of 6 days
196. The reminder of Gods creation in the birthing
197. Called and given a name
198. Drawing on Gods powerful hands
199. Marveling the Earth and its beauty
200. Baby Steps...slowly praising God until I get to 1000

http://www.bigfoto.com/themes/nature/sky/white_cloud-light.jpg
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New Habits

I was moved by what Ann said about habits being like clothes, the attire of our day.  Charlotte Mason states it beautifully,

Habit is inevitable. If we fail to ease life by laying down habits of right thinking and right acting, habits of wrong thinking and wrong acting fix themselves of their own accord.
— Charlotte Mason
I'm inspired to join Ann in the forming of new habits and have been prayerfully considering what and how that will look in my life, now the mother of 5 precious babes, one only 6 weeks old and pure skinned and sleepless at times.  I ask myself what habits I desire to instill into my life, and are there some I'd like to remove? How does one go about doing that?

Can I remove impatience as a habit?  Can I replace it with slow to speak and slow to anger?  What exactly makes up a habit?  I will join Ann on her Colossians in a Year journey, already having printed the pages of the journal and memory cards.  Then also inspired by her writings about the Bible Memory Association booklets of her mother in laws and the creating of booklets for myself.  Most definitely I must make memorizing scripture a habit I desire this year.  Even more so imparting that to my children as I speak scripture over their lives and into their hearts, to their spirits as they sleep and their spirits keep watch by night.  To be able to draw them and others nearer to Jesus with my own journey.  What is beauty?

I am often overwhelmed with the "process" of doing things.  Desiring perfection, consistency, leaving no room for failure and finding frustration when I can't stick with a plan I've made.  I pray the Lord will help me to be flexible with my habit forming goals, allow room for error and delay at times, and to embrace all that comes with mothering five littles 5 and under.  Life is busy and loud and sometimes doesn't stop.  Not to excuse but to not put too much pressure upon myself that would lead to my quitting but rather to be encouraged with starting something new and doing all I can.

Can anyone relate?  How do mothers, wives, friends, and daughters find time for so much?  How do we move through our lives and accomplish all we desire? How do we continue to fill the pages of the journals, create the picture albums of our precious children before the time is gone, read the books they love, make the meals they favor, spend intimate time with our partners and somehow do so without missing a beat?  I simply cannot even though I want to.  I must rest in Him in order to make a habit develop.  I must find this time to rest in order to be successful...where is it?

Colossians in a Year

I truly LOVE Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience.  She writes in a way that touches my heart, draws my inner desire to Love Jesus out in words written on a blank canvas as if she has heard the cries of my heart.  As the New Year begins she is adding a great study tool, a habit to be built, to her inspirational blog.  A Year in Colossians.  She encourages us to consider what a habit really is.

I'm moved by her murmurs towards God' heart, her yearning to draw nearer to him as a Called Woman.

As written by Ann:

" We’re reading this book and when the little girl on page 54 puts on her “habit,” a little hand here pats my shoulder and asks, “What’s a habit?” and I tell her this: a habit is something that is worn.
She flickers recognition, nods, turns back to the page, waits for me to read the next line, and I’m still sitting there realizing: A habit is what we wear. The attire of our days."

I want to post here the resources and amazing information she has included in her writings so that I might not forget. I pray it encourages just one.

Seven Ways of Highly Effective Bible Memorization*

1. Old before New

Always take the old paths. Begin each day by reviewing the memorized verses first before learning the next verse. The goal is retention not

2. Rinse and Repeat

And again. The only way to retain learned verses is to review them again and again over an extended period of time. Everyday’s memorization rhythm: Rinse and repeat.

3. Location, Location, Location

Like the mantra in real estate is location, location, location, so it is for really remembering: memorize the location of each verse. Memorize each verse number and don’t skip it. This is paramount and makes it much easier to memorize long passages and not inadvertently skip verses when reciting whole chapters. Location!

4. Take a Mental Screen Shot

Use your mental point and shoot and take a brain “photograph” of the verse. Read each new verse several times, hiding one word at a time, burning each word into your mind like light onto film.

5. Preach it

To yourself. Speak your memory verses to yourself aloud. Preach it aloud to the soul that needs it the most — our own — and say each verse with emotion and feeling. Whispering it while driving, walking, working not only is an easy way of reviewing and memorizing, it’s fulfilling God’s call to meditate on His Word day and night. And saying each verse aloud is a way to work the words deep into our memory: His Words never return void.

6. Repeat it for 100

For 100 consecutive days repeat aloud your memory work — all the verses, or the chapter, or the whole book. This is painless and demands no extra time: do it first thing every morning while getting ready for the day — in the shower, getting dressed, making the bed etc. Repeat it for 100!

7. Sabbath Sanctuary to see the weeds

After your Repeat it for 100, take the last Sunday of every month and make a sabbath sanctuary to read through your memory work. This will help you to “see the weeds” — any mistakes that have crept into your recitation of longer projects/chapters/books. Soak in His Word on a Sabbath — pluck out some weeds. Commit your heart — and mind —- to Him again.
(*Ideas adapted from Dr. Andrew Davis)
“I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding… than memorizing Scripture… No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends…” ~Charles Swindoll

Why Memorize?

In making to-do lists to run our lives, why not make time to let God’s Word revolutionize our lives? Because making time to memorize His Word is putting the first things first.
If we fail to keep His Word in mind, we may simply fail. In the age of Google, who still memorizes God? Are we losing a way of life… and losing our way?
What a heart knows by heart is what a heart really knows,” urges Dennis Lennon. And what the heart knows by heart is all that can calm the heart. Direct the heart. Strengthen the heart. What do our hearts really know? Will we who claim to be believers of the Word commit to shaping our lives with His Letters?
Committing the Holy to heart is the way we commune with the Holy Himself.
Scripture repetition is the way we daily revive our faith, the slow pumping of the Word of Life into the lungs with the breath of His Words.
And for the disciples of Christ, this Scripture Memorization isn’t a a one-time hurtle — but a life-long habit.  A way of living to live the Way of Christ.
We want this to be a discipline we practice for the rest of our lives. Think marathon, not sprint.” writes Beth Moore. “Never — NOT ONCE — have I ever known anyone to get to the end of a Scripture memory commitment and say that it didn’t make any real difference. Not a single time.”
So this Commitment Booklet: committing our hearts to Him and His Words to heart.

Learning the ART of Memorizing

Attend

Attend to the verse. Do whatever it takes to attend to the verse and work those brain muscles. If you have to act it out, draw it up, write it down, or tape it everywhere. Make up actions and sign-language to correspond with the verse. Listen it a recording of the book of Colossians on CD/MP3. Listen in the car, while doing dishes, going for a walk. For children: Draw the verse in pictures. Fill in the blank. Write it down several times. Close your eyes and see the words.Do whatever it takes to Attend.

Review to Renew

Repeat. Recite. Recap. Reiterate. And then…. Recite to an accountability partner weekly. Each day, take just five minutes to review verses learned last week. Learning is important…but reviewing is paramount to retention. Repeating God’s Word renews.

Tie

Tie Daily Memorizing to Daily Duties. Tie reciting to routines: when you brush teeth, comb hair, make the bed, use the time to savor His Sweet Word. Tie memorizing to meal times. Bind Scripture learning to laundry, labor and living. Tying daily memorizing to daily duties is the living of Deuteronomy 6:7: “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Tie His Word to your life. Tie.
So goes the ART of Memorizing. And our motivation to keep memorizing? “Guard my words as your most precious possession… ” Pr. 7:2 (LB) “Your promises to me are my hope. They give me strength in all my troubles; how they refresh and revive me!” (Ps. 119:49 LB)

So in my efforts to draw nearer to God through A Year In Colossians I have added it to my 100 Day Calendar as 1 of my 3 New Habits to form this year.   As Dr. Davis said above doing something for 100 days is painless and requires no extra time, only commitment.  I pray I might spend time each day drinking from the only glass that is never empty and to quench my always tired and somewhat ragged body with the LIVING Christ.  Then in my repetition on words wash over in His Love.  I have two other habits I'd like to add to my Calendar and I've pondered long about what they should be.  Where is my hearts desire?  Not something for the children, those goals are jotted and scribbled into the deepest parts of my soul and my daily routine.  Carved on the walls and in my heart, spoken softly on my lips to my loving husband in the quiet darkness of our room as midnight draws near.  No the 100 Day Calendar will be for me, for me and Jesus.  Prayerfully I've considered what I will add to the list and decided I will not rush but rather begin my 100 days in February just to be sure I am dressing myself in the RIGHT New Habits this year. 

Yes Colossians starts now, as the year has already spun a new life but I will begin my Calendar in February already full steam on Colossians. 

Preparing for 2011

Thanks to SimpleMom.net I grabbed this great little Goal Setting, dream realizing, inspirational, reflective printable. I thought I would fill it out here as we prepare for another year.

I often avoid making New Year's Resolutions, for several reasons. I suppose the greatest would be my Obsessive Compulsive need to fulfill and perfect such commitments and always feeling like I've failed to do so. Even as I write I think of all the Mondays, Tuesday, Thursdays I've missed over the last year as I wrote this blog. I cringe at the thought of not being able to fulfill such commitments perfectly. I'm not sure why I feel this way but it keeps me from trying to formulate a plan. In that same breath I love being intentional and see great value in doing goal setting and making a plan for the future, with goals and ends in mind. I love to progress, achievement, success in such things and feel like life has greater meaning when I have such ends in mind. I tend to add new things to my sort of resolution list as I go and often feel challenged to constantly make life more intentional with more purpose. MORE...why does intention have to mean MORE?

What is intentional living didn't mean MORE but rather LESS, simplicity with commitment. What if it meant a plan with achievable goals. That is what I would like. Instead of pressuring myself to blog EVERY Monday to be satisfied with blogging most Mondays. Instead of having to do teaching and school with the children everyday, I was satisfied with most days. In the act of doing such things intention can also be brought in, planning, scheduling, being prepared and ready do such tasks does not have to mean pressure to do them ALL THE TIME. Right? I want MORE of Jesus, I want MORE of my children, and MORE of Him for them, I want MORE time with Justin and MORE time with friends. But this kind of MORE must not drive me to be fully engaged, planned, busy all the time. Rather the simplify the intentionality of life and be moving, making a new path, paving a new way.

So, as I read through the printable about goal planning for 2011 I keep in mind the quiet, the simple, the achievable with a dose of reality while raising 5 children 5 and under!

1. What healthy character traits would you like to see developed in your life this year? I would like to LOVE people more and have TRUE Compassion for others in a Christ like way. I would like to develop a deeper sense of JOY in my life, a more natural JOY related to my PEACE with who I am in Christ. I would like to be more naturally inclined towards the POSITIVE, be a person who SPEAKS more TRUTH, and pour out on my family and friends ENCOURAGEMENT and APPRECIATION.

2. What books would you like to read this year? To Train Up a Child, the New Testament, & Shepherding a Child's Heart (again).

3. Do you enjoy your job, what are your favorite things about it? I LOVE my job, my calling as a mother, a wife, and daughter of God. I sometimes find it challenging and some days I wish I could start over. In my own failure to lean on Christ is fall flat on my face, which is a reminder and a calling back to the Provider, the Healer and Friend I have in the Lord.
My favorite things include all joyous activities with my children, training, learning, and renewing life through a child's eyes. I love watching them play together, hearing them laugh, and teaching them about Jesus whenever possible. I love their innocence in life and the sparkle in their eyes. It is inspirational.

4. What is one area of progress you'd like to see this year for maintaining or improving physical health? I'd like to workout at least a little more than I do now, although I make no promises especially ones so low on my priority list!

5. What are some tangible, daily choices you can add to your life that will improve your health? Drink more WATER. Buy fresher foods and cook more.

6. What is your plan for this month for starting this progress towards a healthier life? Making meal plans and grocery lists on a more regular basis, cooking more at home and eating out less, gather more recipes to try, and filling out my 100 Days to a NEW Habit, which includes drinking more Water!

7. What are ways in which you can grow in intimacy with your spouse this year?  I'd like to be more intentional about setting aside time for JUST US!  It is too rare and too precious to be left off the list of daily, monthly and yearly priorities.  I'd like to see things in Purple more often and move toward Justin in moments of fear or anger or disappointment. 

8. What Plans will you make to meet and pray and have Family Worship together?  What books would you like to read as a family this year?  We have already begun the process of having Family Worship, doing research to prepare and have goals and plans well laid that we can act upon without hesitation.  I've ordered over 20 books to read with the children concerning the theme for each months family worship and I've been so encouraged by so many sites out there that have printables, guides, goal planning, etc. to bring the spirit into our home.  I'm so blessed to be a part of a community of amazing, strong, inspirational women.  I've also downloaded a great Mission Statement guide and a fun site (thanks to simplemom.com) to do so that allows Justin and I to contemplate many things about intentional living as a family.

9.  What will deliberate, regular family time look like this year?  Mondays are Family Worship, Sunday is Church day, Friday is Family night just hanging with Daddy after him being gone for three days.

10. How would you like to see growth in your children in the following areas:
a. Emotionally-  I'm praying that all my children in their own developmentally age appropriate way can mature emotionally and there might be a little bit less whining and crying coming from them throughout the day.  Cole is tenderhearted and also strongwilled making him sensitive to things that often result in a complete breakdown.  My twins, each in their own way, are often frustrated with the days events if it deviates from our typical schedule.  They are sometimes so flexible and easy going but mostly they need to be prepared for daily change. My prayer is that doing that pays off and they find themselves enjoying each day more.  Brynnie girl...what can you say, she is almost 2.  She is the most laid back and the least demanding most of the time.  I'd love to see her bloom into a young toddler this year.
b. Spiritually- My prayer for them this year is they each come to know Jesus and more about Him and His character as we do Family Worship this year and discuss Him more.  They have been memorizing scripture and being poured over with His word. I pray it does not return void as God has promised.
c. Educationally- Cole has come leaps and bounds with learning to read and I'm so proud. This year will be full of continued tutoring, writing, reading, and math starting in February.  The twins will being tutoring in September and I desire to see them also bloom in their understanding, writing, and letter recognition.

11. How will the children be educated this year and resources you plan to use? They will be schooled at home, with assistance from Alana, the tutor we love to see.  We will be exploring Explode the Code more this year for reading and writing, and Math-U-See for Math for Cole.  I have gathered lots of online resources for printables, projects, theme based reading, etc. to utilize as well.  Then as mentioned before, we will use Family Worship to do Bible teaching starting January and February with Seeds Family Worship Themes and Printables.

12. What are your Children's Strengths? How will you help them use them?
Cole- A Leader, Smart, Strong willed, and a Quick Learner
Brody- Tender, Creative, Dedicated and a Joyful Heart
Trace- Funny, Energetic, Quick learner, and Willing to be challenged

I hope to tap into their strengths to help with schooling this year while encouraging their areas of weakness to be strengthened in the process.   For each of them their learning style is unique and homeschooling will allow for me to approach each of them differently.  I'd like to focus more on what they learn and what things we are intentionally teaching then work on implementing that in a way that suites them.

13. What are your Children's Weaknesses? How will you help them overcome?
Cole- Stubborn, Impatient, Lacks Interest
Brody- Obsessive and Distracted, and quick to Tears, a little bit Lazy
Trace- Quick to Anger, Dominating, and Lacks Follow Through

Prayer is my biggest asset this I know.  Along with daily prayer for both energy, intentionality, and patience as well as prayer for them that they will tap into their strengths I hope to encourage them verbally toward being better and stronger in how God made them.  I would like to do Training, as detailed in To Train Up a Child to set clear and concise boundaries for them as well as offer up opportunities for them to succeed in the RIGHT things.

14. What is an area of progress you would like to see in your financial health this year?  I'd like to make progress towards paying off my Father in Law for our 2010 misfortunes with unexpected expenses and then move towards saving and planning for retirement.

15. What are some of your long term financial goals? I'd like to finish the Investools Training and begin investing Justin's IRA along with making progress with our 6 month savings and retirement planning. 

16.  What are your plan this month towards better financial health? Continuing to Coupon, living on a budget, using Mvelopes to do so and saving.

New Years Goals:
1. Colossians in a Year (on the Blog)
2. Multitude Monday (on the Blog)
3. Family Worship (Mondays)
4. Meal Planning, List Making, Eating at Home
5. Drinking Water
6. Finishing Investools
7. Time in God's Word apart from 1 & 2
8. Time with Justin
9. Reading more Books (Starting with To Train A Child)
10. Saving Money God's way
11. Prayer

I'm excited about 2011.  Time is flickering by too quickly but each year brings new excitement, challenge, and a new path in this beautifully crazy journey.  I love new goals, making things clear and intentional, recollecting our thoughts about family and where God wants to take us.  In some ways I'd like to slow down and in others I feel full speed ahead, reaching out my arms as I go along to try and pull everything together!

God help me, steer the ship, plow the way, smooth the path, allow the pain only to grow us and draw us nearer to you, that our thirst will satisfied by you and not the things of this world.  Help us to find victory in the life you've called us to leave and the children you've called us to grow.  Carry us when we are weak, walk beside us when you make us strong, stand watch over our home each day, even when we fail to ask it of you.  Sink deep into our hearts, write your name on our walls and hear us when we call! Thank you God for another year to know you more.

One Thousand Gifts

Christmas ought to be a time in which we are reminded of all the blessings we have and recognize our richly cared for we truly are by our Savior Jesus.  That He would come as a babe, naked and innocent into a broken and confused world so desperately in need of Him.  That scripture, breathed by God, so long ago was fulfilled with every moment of his arrival. How can one deny the perfection of Jesus birth?  To deny his deity and His son ship is to deny His sacrifice and its eternal significance.  I pray we might not ever take this holiday season for granted but rather use every moment to reflect and remember how miraculous that day truly was and how necessary His entrance into the world had become, from the moment the apple was bitten.

I recently attended a class on the Jewish Roots of Christianity.  I learned so many things about the OT and the pictures God painted of the coming sacrifice.  That from the beginning God foreknew and predestined His son to be the bridge that would gap our separation from the Father.  All the planning and patience it took for God to construct this flawless image of Christ through OT scripture.  That He called the Jewish people, Israel, to salvation because of His great love for them.  Then to only have them deny Christ as the Savior opening the door for Gentiles, like me, like us, to be saved and enter in God's Kingdom.  This child, born by night, in a manger to a young mother full of faith and a father full of humility, would be the Hope of the World.

The blessings through this can hardly be counted.  I only pray that as my children grow and I grow with them in my knowledge and appreciation for Jesus in my life that we might not belittle Christmas for the sake of commercialism but rather cherish and savor the message of Christ starting with his lowly birth!
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Blessings
176. Virgin Birth of a naked and flawless babe
177. Flickering candles by night
178. CHRISTmas hits on the radio reminding us in song of our saviors glow
179. CHRISTmas books to be read by night and a daddy that richly loves
180. Godly women striving to provide CHRISTmas printables, crafts and fun for the kids to enjoy over the holiday
181. Interwebbing late at night to find just the right gift to make my children smile
182. Random talks of CHRISTmas with the littles that they might further understand Jesus
183. Encouraging words from other on blogs, words written in the quiet, just for me that I might see Jesus myself in the holiday
184. Spoken verses of God's words reminding us how Alive He truly is
185. Prayers prayed at the dinner table
186. Counting down the days till GLEE is squealed in delight on Christmas Morn
187. Brothers and a sister blessing each other with a gift chosen for the other
188. Cold nights under warm covers next to the daddy that gives and gives
189. Slowing down because we are sick with sweats and chills
190. Little baby feet and hands on a Christmas morning just like those of Jesus, oh how Mary must have felt to hold that angel boy

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Reflections of 2010




I meant to write long ago as the year drew near to an end and quietly drifted away, finding its place in our memories with highlights of those things that seemed to stand out the most to us that we might cling to them and create pictures to reflect upon.  My memory is so visual, trapped moments caught on camera, stilled in my mind of my children, their expressions, our experiences.  Isn't it beautiful that God created us to mostly remember and reflect upon the good, to remember the heartwarming moments that we would find reason to Praise His Name.  Even greater is He that He might use the "bad" or the "sad" to draw us near to Him, remind us to rely on Him, and whisper to us His Love runs deep and often overflows for us. 

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1
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In my thoughts to write and close out the year, celebrate Christmas and reflect upon 2010 that I might not forget those things that made us smile and drews us Near to Him, I delayed.  Taking care of the baby, adjusting our schedule to be a family of 7, enjoying time with our daddy while he was home...the list could run on but I delayed and now here we are the dawn of a new year.

Yet, it is still Monday, as they seem to come and go like the tide and pass by so quickly.  If I counted the year in Mondays, which I often find myself counting the year in Fridays, it would pass in a blink and I might miss the moments I long to savor and tuck away.  My desire is to hold each day dear to me, hold each of my children but for a moment before they squirm away and breathe in each day as if it was my last, engulfing, sweet smelling breath.  Could I achieve such a life of Savoring?  My heart longs to but I fail to as I allow the days and hours to unfold before me without contemplating God's rich and LAVISH love for us.

I found, at SimpleMoms.net a great and handy little tool to reflect upon 2010 and would like to do so here that I might lift up each answer to my Lord, praise Him for His abundant Blessings, and remind myself yet again to take each day as a gift, for they add up to a year within minutes of them starting.

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?  No question it was the wonderful, blessed arrival of our precious Westin James, baby #5, as God has richly given to us an abundance of healthy, perfect little sheep.

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened? No contest in that losing all our savings to fixing our "used" van was the most challenging.  There is nothing quite like working so hard to store funds away to have it all gone within months to start anew with no safety net. 

3. What was the unexpected Joy this year?  The lesson that came from losing our savings was far greater than the savings itself.  To learn and be reminded that God is our PROVIDER, our SHELTER, our STRENGTH has been more valuable that the money we mistakenly and unintentionally placed our trust in.  Although we know saving and being prepared along with wise stewardship of our funds honors God we must not forget that He holds our lives in His hands, that His plans trump any we might find fitting for ourselves, and we mustn't forget it is Him we desire to honor not ourselves.

4. What was the unexpected obstacle? Getting back to a budget, adjusting our lifestyle to fit the current status of our finances, and having to borrow funds from family in order to keep going.  We pray we are able to once again be debt free within months as we know it honors God to do so.

5. Pick three words to describe 2010? Breathtaking, Inspiring, & Renewing

6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe 2010? Challenging, Growing, & Reminding

7. What were the best books you read this year? Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp and Don't Make Me Count to Three.  Both were wonderfully challenging in our parenting approach and reminded us that we are raising an Army for Christ not just creating children. The road of parenting is paved with rough and smooth patches, the hard work pays off, and we must be intentionally diligent in paving the way for them to Jesus above all things.http://www.sfurc.org/storage/SCH_pic.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1270754196910http://www.gbibooks.com/productimages/original/0972304649-F.jpg

8. With whom were your most valuable relationships? My husband.  As we travel down the road of parenting a large family we cling to each other in times of need and encouragement and also work through the tough stuff together as we find where God wants us to go.  Our Small Group has been a great asset to this journey as well.  A place to reflect, encourage and grow in our relationship with God, our children and each other.

9. What ws your biggest personal change from January to December this past year?  I would hope I changed the most in my approach the parenting as well as my relationship with Justin.  That I was slower to anger (overall), drawing them near to Christ, and lavishing them with Love.  That I was more patient with Justin, forgave quicker, and resolved more smoothly that he might know how much I love him.

10. In what ways did you grow emotionally/spiritually? Emotionally I hope I was able to control my feelings a little better (although being prego didn't help that at times), as well as being able to express myself in a more positive manner when feeling discouraged or annoyed.  I believe I made progress in being able to see the good in things rather than the "bad" and quicker to find joy.  I hope I was able to encourage more, stay neutral in challenging situations, and be a positive influence on someone. 
My understanding and the depth of my knowledge of Christ grew this year.  I spent more time meditating upon His word, attempting to impart His character into my life as well as the life of my children, and sought to love Him more in the peace of knowing He loved me enough to die.  Each year as a Christian I come to know Him and understand His Love better.  We've had some great training this year and for that I'm so thankful.

11.  In what ways did you grow Physically? Well, I gained about 30 pounds before I had our precious little guy.

12. In what ways did you grow in your relationships with others?  As a couple our friendships with several friends were strengthened as we allowed ourselves to be vulnerable with them and to work out growing in Christ in a raw and natural way.  Finding close relationships with women is still somewhat challenging and I will continue to seek improvement with this in 2011.

13. What was the most enjoyable part of your work (at home)? Of course watching my children grow and starting to run a little more organized and tighter ship than the year before.  To hopefully have made progress towards being a Titus 2 and Proverbs 31 women for my family.

14. What was the most challenging part of your (at home)? Patience.  Disciplining the children and bringing them into an obedient relationship with us and God has been challenging. It seems the enemy is out to thwart all attempts to draw our children closer to Christ.  2011 we will continue this quest to bring our children into an obedient and joyful relationship with us and Christ with a few less tears along the way (from Justin and I that is!).

15. What was the single biggest time waster this year?  Most likely Facebook!

16. What was the best way you used your time this year? Being in God's word or in blogs of women who love and serve the Lord through words. Journaling and reading that I might become a greater woman of Christ.

17. What was the biggest thing you learned this past year? Two things. 1. the absolute importance of being a mother and us being parents that are intentionally disciplining and training our children that they would love Jesus and serve Him as they grow.  2. How broken and messed up I am and that I often get in the way of what my heart would like to do with my time with Jesus, my family and my friends.  It is hard to be intentional and often exhausting but I don't want to give up!

18. Create a phrase for 2010 that describes you?  Obedience is: doing what I'm told to do, when I'm told to do it, with a right heart attitude. That goes for me and my children! :)

I'm so thankful God has kept us close to Him this year. That He has been faithful to teach us, provide for us, encourage us and in turn allow us to bless others and grow as children of God.  I know next year, as the years before, will continue to pave the way to loving, serving, knowing, and growing in Him more.  I pray our goals and plans for 2011 will be intentional, that our parenting will be patient, loving, and firm, that the training up of God warriors will fall into place, and our marriage strengthened in the midst of it all.  We are abundantly blessed.